โLife is too short.ย Buy the hydrangea.โ
-Two Women and A Hoe, Garden Bloggers
Iโm in New York this week, and the weather for the last couple of days has been a bit disappointing. Itโs been cold, wet and grey. I thought Iโd try and brighten things up a bit with an origami flower! This is an Origami Hydrangea, designed by Shuzo Fujimoto.ย Itโs a great Origami spring project for intermediate level folders.
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About Hydrangeas
Iโm hopeless when it comes to identifying different types of flowers or growing pretty much anything, but according to Wikipedia and various other sites, Hydrangeas are Americaโs favourite flowering shrub. They are native to Asia & the Americas and come in a range of colours โ including white, blue, and shades of red from pink to purple, depending on the acidity of the soil.
The name โHydrangeaโ comes from the Greek โhydor,โ meaning water, and โangos,โ meaning jar or vessel. This roughly translates to โwater barrel,โ referring to the hydrangeaโs need for plenty of water and its cup-shaped flower.
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Symbolism of Hydrangeas
There are a couple of different interpretations of the symbolism of Hydrangeas. Some people associate it with vanity and boastfulness (perhaps reflecting its abundance of petals and lavish, rounded shape) and others suggesting that a bouquet of hydrangea expresses the giverโs gratefulness for the recipientโs understanding. Still others suggest it represents anything thatโs sincerely heartfelt. The Hydrangea is also sometimes seen as the traditional flower for fourth wedding anniversaries. I thought that was Geraniums, but as I said, I donโt know a lot about flowers.
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Aboutย Shuzo Fujimotoโs Origami Hydrangea
I really like this design, although I donโt think it looks a lot like a Hydrangea. Itโs too rigidly structured for that. Oddly though, itโs precisely that rigid structure that I like. It gives it a very strong, stylised appearance while still obviously a flower.
I categorise it as an intermediate level design as there are a couple of steps in the folding process that beginner folders tend to be scared of: open sinks and spread-squashes. That said, the video instructions I followed are very accessible and I would urge anyone to give this flat origami flower model a go. Donโt be surprised if the first result isnโt as good as youโd like โ treat it as a rough draft and give it another try.
Most paper types will do, although something with some longer fibres would be less likely to rip. I used origami paper or kami to make the model in the picture above, with 24cm x 24 cm (9.5in x 9.5in) sides. This produces a final model that measures 12cm x 12cm (4.75in x 4.75in). You can make this from a square of ordinary kami that is 15cm (6in) a side, but I think this gets a little small to make the final petals.
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Origami Hydrangea Diagrams
There are several sources of origami hydrangea instructions. Shuzo Fujimoto published a booklet called โFolding Origami Hydrangeaโ containing diagrams for this origami Hydrangea and variations on it. I prefer the video tutorial created by Sara Adams with the designerโs permission. These origami hydrangea instructions use a different folding sequence to those provided in Fujimotoโs booklet.ย
If you like this folding method but prefer to fold from diagrams, Nick Robinson has a pdf of diagrams produced by John Smith available on his website.
Get Involved
Iโd love to hear your views on this origami hydrangea model. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below, or you find can me on Instagram or Twitter. Check out my Pinterest boards too!
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