The 2016 report from the Amaryllis Beloeil annual competition in Belgium.

This year we enjoyed the amaryllis viewings over the Easter weekend. This explains the giant Easter egg which was greeting all the visitors at the entrance.

This competition takes place in a nice historical setting of Chateau de Beloeil and (importantly) participants get a decent supply of sponsored amaryllis. What a great combination for those who want to make a bold artistic statement.

Artists are allowed to work in rooms filled with real antiquities – my compliments to the brave organizers. It gives a surreal feeling of time travel. Fresh flowers in the museum-like interior suddenly make it alive as if the inhabitants of the Chateau are just about to arrive for the dinner.

One of my ikebana friends pointed out that most of the arrangements are quite Baroque. I suppose it is the way it should be to fit into the setting. Still my favorite arrangement was fairly minimalist. Only one color of flowers, clean lines and still very well integrated into the space. Here it is:

Another item from my personal selection was in the music room arrangement: upside down amaryllis used as notes. I like the visual parallel. And it also makes amaryllis look lighter.

Unfortunately, similar to many other arrangements in the event these flowers were not given water supply. I find it a pity. Filling up steams with water and sealing them off with wax could have been a good option in my view.

Here is the the winner of the 1st prize in the large groups category. I guess the judges liked the fact that the flowers were integrated into the furniture pieces and not just used as separate decoration items. But this is only my speculation.

In 2012 one of the fellow ikebana students also participated in this event and got a 2nd prize in small teams category. I will see if there is enough interest among the ikebanists to form a team and enter into the Amaryllis 2017 competition. You can express your interest either on Facebook or via e-mail ekaterina@ikebanaweb.com. The idea would be to make a clean and contemporary arrangement without clashing with the historical interior. Quite a challenge but also a great opportunity to introduce more people to the wonderful art of Ikebana.

To get a flavor of the past few events you can check out a Penterest Amaryllis Beloeil board with several short Youtube videos. It gives a pretty good picture of the spaces to fuel your inspiration.

Follow IkebanaWeb and receive a free report Keep Your Flowers Fresh, Longer.