Page:Japanese flower arrangement.djvu/138



INES of all varieties should be placed in hanging vases, as the nature of their growth can be shown to better advantage in this way. A vine in an upright position is very unnatural, but in a hanging vase it can fall over the edge as though it were creeping over a rock or clinging to the side of a hill. Only the short and unimportant ends are allowed to go upright.

Arrangements are made in hanging vases according to the same principles of Heaven, Man, and Earth. Heaven is still the longest branch or spray, only in these receptacles it hangs down instead of standing upright. This is because the character of vines is to droop, and Heaven, the most important element of the group in flower arrangements, must always indicate in its lines the natural growth of the plant. [132]