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Before you invest hours in your garden this season, reflect for a moment on last year. The deer that munched your first hopefully planted batch of seedlings. The moles that dug up the seedlings the deer didn't eat. And the bear that trampled the remnants when he made off with your bird feeder.

Take a cue from the Japanese and preserve your peace of mind by bringing spring indoors with ikebana, the art of traditional Japanese flower arranging.

Ikebana, which translates to "living flowers," originated in China, where Buddhist monks would arrange flowers and place them on altars as offerings.

"They would just place flowers of the season in a tall container," said Antoinette Drouart, ikebana instructor and owner of Ikebana Flower at 95 W. Pearl St. in Nashua. "These were very simplified arrangements."

As Buddhism spread to Korea and Japan, ikebana spread with it and eventually came to be used for more aesthetic purposes. During the 16th century, it became popular among the samurai. "Ikebana has always been a man's art," Drouart said, "and men were always the principal flower arrangers."

Since men, especially samurai, tended to be very busy, the responsibility of flower arranging often fell to their female companions. Men still oversaw the arranging, but women were now allowed to participate.

"It's only in the past 20 years that women have been allowed to be the iemoto, which is the highest position in an ikebana school. It's passed down through a (family) bloodline," said Drouart, who is certified by the Sogetsu School, one of the three main schools of ikebana. The current Sogetsu iemoto, Akane Teshigahara, is a woman. "The Sogetsu School has really taken it out of the temples and brought it into the homes and opened it up to the women," Drouart said.

Drouart began her ikebana studies while living in Japan from 1986 to 1992 for her husband's work. Ikebana was one of several classes she took in order to learn the language. "I didn't know any Japanese," she said, "so I took language classes and cooking, ikebana and sewing classes."

Antoinette Drouart is an ikebana instructor and owner of Ikebana Flower at 95 W. Pearl St. in Nashua.

More Information: Antoinette Drouart offers ikebana classes on an ongoing basis. For those whose gardens manage to thrive in spite of the local wildlife, Drouart will be offering special classes this summer where you can bring in flowers from your own garden to arrange. Students of all levels are welcome. Drouart also custom designs arrangements and sells a variety of flowers and branches at her shop. For more information, call 595-8877 or visit: http://www.ikebanaflower.com/

She left her cooking and sewing classes after a year because she had learned the necessary vocabulary, but continued studying the language and ikebana. "Working with the flowers really brought me a sense of peace," Drouart said. "You learned to look at the flowers in a completely different way than I had learned to look at them in the Western world. The flowers became part of everyday life rather than for special occasions or just in a garden."

Unlike Western floral arrangements, ikebana is an asymmetrical art. Flowers, branches and water are all equally important, and empty space is used as consciously as any of the tangible materials. Some arrangements also incorporate stones, which are used to invite the presence of benevolent spirits.

"We learn to adapt to our place," Drouart said. "We're very adaptable with our materials. . . . Wherever we are, we'll use seasonal flowers in addition to exotic flowers."

Staff photo by Don Himsel Antoinette Drouart uses fantail willow and gerbera daisies to create an arrangement called variation No. 2 upright style nagaire.

For springtime in New Hampshire, she suggests using plum, cherry, weeping cherry, witch hazel, forsythia and pussy willow for branches. For flowers, Drouart recommends irises, daffodils, narcissus, hydrangeas, hyacinth and all kinds of tulips.

When selecting flowers and branches for an arrangement, keep in mind that each type of flower or branch has its own special connotations. Bamboo and pine, said Drouart, both signify strength. Orchids are a celebratory flower, while white roses are used for funerals. Choosing flowers and branches can be a little daunting for beginners, so she chooses for her beginning students.

The choice of container for an arrangement is also significant. "Pottery containers are used a lot because they represent earth," said Drouart. Bamboo baskets are used from May through October. Glass containers, which represent ice, are used during the winter and also in the summer because of their cooling effect.

To ensure an arrangement stays fresh and vibrant for as long as possible, Drouart recommends cutting each individual stem at an angle under water before positioning it in the arrangement, which keeps the stems open and receptive to water. The water in the arrangement should be changed daily.

In a traditional Japanese home, a completed arrangement would be placed in the tokonoma, a raised alcove used especially for the display of ikebana, decorative scrolls, and other art objects. In more modern homes, they are positioned in the entryway or the living room as a gesture of welcome, or even in the kitchen or bathroom.

If space is at a premium, as it is in many Japanese homes, consider a hanging ikebana container that can easily be mounted on the wall. "That way," said Drouart, "you can still have a floral arrangement without taking up a lot of space."

Although the end result of ikebana is a highly structured arrangement, the process itself can be just as rejuvenating as spending an afternoon working in the garden. Perhaps even moreso, as there's no weeding or mosquitoes involved. "It's the experience of putting the world outside and just relaxing," said Drouart. "Putting your worries on hold. Your time."

Teresa Santoski can be reached at 594-6467 or tsantoski@nashuatelegraph.com.

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