Ikebana enthusiast has a question.

A friend of mine wants to grow tazetta/species (?) that have leaves that are a minimum of 16″long–prefers 2 feet.When in fields in Japan he said the narcissus were over knee high. He is growing something called tazetta-species (could possibly be Geranium as that is what the flower looks like to him…..or could it be Chinese Sacred Lily?)  He would appreciate any suggestions for varieties that would have the longest leaves.  He lives in the Boulder, Colorado area and could grow whatever outside and then overwinter in a garage.  He is an Ikenobo Ikebana teacher and needs the leaves for Ikebana arrangements. The flowers are secondary for his needs.  Any tazetta would be fine.  Any ideas?  I apologize for the very poor photo which shows an arrangement done with leaves that are not long enough for the style.  The flowers don’t show up in this photo, but perhaps you get the idea?

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4 comments for “Ikebana enthusiast has a question.

  1. For me Avalanche and Grand Primo Citroniere grow dark green leaves up to 36″ long, especially if grown in a shady spot

    Dave

  2. I’m inclined to agree with Dave about ‘Avalanche’ and probably any of the “tender” tazettas which don’t grow well in my climate.  I think even ‘Erlicheer’ gets long leaves if it’s grown where it isn’t frozen off early on.

    Mary Lou

  3. I will comment on the arrangement itself.  Since I took lessons in Ikenobo Ikebana for several years, I know some about the style.  The flower is shown in the arrangement.  It is just above the second leaf on the left.   Since Ikenobo is very precise and spare looking, that is all the arranger chose to put in the arrangement -just one bloom.  For the height of the container the leaves are a bit too short.  They may have been fine in a shorter container. or even one that was narrower.

    My Avalanche still has its’ leaves and I measured them.  The longest is 25 inches.  It’s not in a wet spot.

    Donna

  4. As  an  admirer  of  my  mothers  [  and  many  friends ]  floral  art  and having  seen  many  varied  styles  come  in  and  out  of  fashion  in over  50  years , observing  , I,m  always  pleased  to  see  floral  art  get  a  mention .

    The tallest  ,  most  upright  daff  foliage  in  my  garden  is , without  question  the  early  tazetta  lines  raised  by  Bill  Welch / Max  Hamilton . We  have  just  had  a  few  heavy  frosts so  they  have  finally  fallen  over  from  their  very  upright  growth  ,  easily  over  a  metre  ,  straight  up  .The  vigour  of  these  polyploids  is  amazing  ;  for  early  season  foliage  I  would  certaily  suggest  you  contact  ” Bill  the  Bulb  Baron .”  I  have  also  seen  the  foliage  of jonquillas  used  in  arrangements  . It  is  quite  a  different  form  to  the  standards  ,  very  much  more  ”  quilla  ”  with  the  narrow  ,  dark  green  and  very  upright  growth  , but  not  as  tall  as  the  tazettas mentioned  .  Oregon  Gold  is  a  vigorous  Jonquilla  worth  a  try  . Of  the  standards ,  the  foliage  of  ! W – W  Neahkaknie  always  amazes  me  with  it,s  width , –  often  well  over  an  inch  wide .Trumpet  foliage  is  also  generally  much  more  upright  ,  but  not  as tall  as  tazettas .

    I also  recall  the  remarks  of  my  old  boss  ,  when  Ikebana  was  growing  in  fashion  , possibly  around  the  early  1980  ;  Ted  ,  director  of  a  large  wholesale  flower  market  and  a  big  daff  grower  ,  commented   – ”  I  hope  this   doesn,t  catch  on  , — they  don,t  use  enough  flowers  –  that,s  not  good  for  business .

    Cheers  John .

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