In autumn, the best arrangement is a single dried branch. Not a flower — a branch. A persimmon branch with the fruit still attached. A pine branch with a cone. A maple branch with one red leaf.
The Chinese aesthetic principle of 'liu bai' — leaving white space — applies to floral arrangement as much as it does to painting. The empty space around the branch is not empty. It is the space that gives the branch meaning.
For autumn, we recommend:
A persimmon branch in a tall stoneware vase. The orange fruit against the raw clay is one of the great colour combinations in nature.
A single dried lotus seed head in a wide celadon bowl. The architectural form of the seed head — a shower-head of dark circles — is sculptural enough to stand alone.
A maple branch with three leaves in a bamboo holder. Choose a branch where the leaves are at different stages — one green, one turning, one red. The progression is the arrangement.
Do not add water. Do not add a second branch. Do not add a filler flower. The branch is enough.