ikebana: D.C. No. 1

Living in Tokyo in 1956 with her husband, a general in the U.S. Army, Ellen Allen Gordon founded Ikebana International to promote “friendship through flowers.” When Gordon returned to her home in Washington, D.C. she established the organization’s first chapter outside of Tokyo — Ikebana International, Washington D.C. Chapter No. 1. Ikebana International now has 165 chapters in 60 countries, including Chile, South Africa, Jordan, Germany, Russia, India, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. May friendship and flowers always occupy lives around the world!

Members of the D.C. Chapter No. 1 displayed their creative flower power at their annual exhibition this month at the the U.S. National Arboretum. Full appreciation of ikebana, like life, occurs only in person. Moreover, the video below shows less than a third of the arrangements in the exhibition. Even this partial, poor sense of the exhibition I hope you will enjoy.