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Our workshops are held via Zoom or and in person.  For our Zoom workshops, our certified instructors provide a video lecture and demonstration prior to the workshop.  Students send photos of their finished arrangements which are critiqued by our instructor and then they have an opportunity to modify their arrangements based on the instructor’s critique. Finally, during the actual Zoom workshop, each arrangement is viewed and discussed.

Our in-person workshops include a lecture and demonstration by a certified instructor.  The instructor then critiques each student’s arrangement, giving the student an opportunity to make any suggested changes.  A photograph is then taken which is posted on our website.  Most of our workshops are held in Scottsdale.  Our new location has a lovely Japanese garden that students can enjoy while working on their arrangements.  All floral material is included.  

Once a year we hold a special workshop at the Mesa Community College Rose Garden.  This workshop includes a tour of the garden by our Sensei (instructor) and Rose Curator, Marylou Coffman.

The highlight of our year has to be the workshops and demonstrations led by a visiting professor of Ikenobo from Japan.  These unique workshops fill up fast, so get your reservations in quickly.

View our Calendar for a complete schedule.

Ikenobo is the origin of ikebana, the oldest school, dating from 1462 when Ikenobo Senkei arranged several dozen branches in a golden vase and drew admirers from all around Kyoto.  While all ancient peoples had used flowers as offerings, it was only in Japan that the placing and arranging of flowers became codified as kado, the flower path, and developed into the art form of ikebana.   The practice of placing flowers as an offering in Buddhist temples had come to Japan from China in the sixth century; thereafter,  flowers were arranged for enjoyment or for healing and  later for room decorating.  The earliest “standing flower” arrangements, tatehana, gave rise to rikka , originally a seven-branch style placed in the tokonoma of a Japanese drawing room.  Rikka became increasingly complex over the centuries until, by the eighteenth century, it gave rise to an abbreviated style called shoka;  today Ikenobo teaches rikka, shoka, and free style, or jiyuka.    The very essence of Ikenobo is its strong emphasis on shussho, the inherent nature of plants and how they live.   The current headmaster, Sen’ei Ikenobo, has continued to create new styles of rikka shimputai  and shoka shimputai and to further the development of free style arrangements.   Ikenobo continues its over five hundred years of development by teaching styles with ancient roots which harmonize with contemporary life.

To follow Ikenobo’s flower path, one need only choose a certified teacher who  oversees the course of study, including workshops, individualized lessons, and the study of Ikenobo texts.   Although practicing  Ikenobo ikebana is a life-long pursuit, diplomas are awarded along the way, first for student levels, later for instructors, and eventually for professors.   Ikenobo recognizes eighteen diploma levels.