Group gets together at Zielger home to practice Japanese floral art

On Thursday afternoon, Malta's Toni Ziegler had fellow members of the Ikebana International- Chinook Chapter #8 – the Hi Line group – over to her house for a lesson in Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement.

"Ikebana is actually a school and it is a very structured art and translates to friendship with flowers," Sandy Dungan of Glasgow said. "It has spread all over the world to help spread world peace.

Ikebana International- Chinook Chapter #8 was started by Allie Marie Vyehara, a Chinook native. Vyehara married a Japanese man and the couple moved back to Japan around the same time that Ikebana started to be opened to the public (for many years, the floral art form was strictly performed by monks for Japanese Emperors.) Vyehara was in on the ground floor of the art form, came home to Chinook and talked members of her local garden club into opening a Ikebana Chapter in Chinook.

"We are over 50 years old now," said Sandy Dungan, a Glasgow member. "And our membership is up and down the Hi -Line with members in Chester, Chinook, Malta, Glasgow, Hoagland and Turner."

In traditional Ikebana arrangements, the balance is archived from the lengths and proportions of the three main branches that are creating a triangular shape, according to the Nordic Lotus Ikebana Blog. Transferred to fruit and vegetables, the balance is not about length but more about the shape and the weight of the fruit. The most dominating fruit or vegetable will then work as the Shin branch.

On Friday, the Ikebana group who gathered at Ziegler's home in Malta were working on the Morimono form of the floral art. Morimono arrangements are used to symbolize abundance and prosperity, often in relation to the autumn harvesting and the richness of what the earth can produce.

The group currently has 15 members, but is always looking for new members. If you are interested in learning more about the group you can contact Ziegler, Wilma Mavencamp or Jane Ereaux. The group only has meetings in the summer months and will have their last meeting will be in Chinook on October 23.