Growing Flowers For A Wedding

Growing Flowers For A Wedding–  Our daughter Eve is getting married in August and she asked me if I would bring flowers. She favors yellow and white flowers, so I went to work figuring out the best home grown flowers for an August wedding. First I looked at what Maria Iannotti had to say about her favorite flowers for cutting and generated a list by visiting her About.com Gardening site.  I immediately zeroed in on annuals because they are reliable bloomers. The perennials blooming in my garden right now (Penstemon and Yellow loosestrife shown in the bouquet in this post) will definitely not be blooming in August. I may be able to scoop up some Shasta daisies, Phlox, Achillea at the last minute, but annuals are the only flowers that bloom all season long without fail.

I selected white Cleome, Lisianthus (Maria calls it rose-like), Gerber daisies — and Zinnias for a colorful accent. I can pull in white-bordered hosta leaves and ferns at the last minute for texture and background. For an informal outdoor wedding it might be fun to use a vase that takes its shape when filled with water. Check out our Instant Vase with a “Crystal” design that is very pretty in sunlight. (shown holding the bouquet in this post).

Designing Eve’s bouquet will require closer consultation with Eve and some advice from floral arrangers on how to keep flowers looking fresh. Conditioning is important and selecting the right flowers is also important. I am finding Lisianthus to be a wonder flower because it stays fresh for so long. And it does possess the delicacy of a rose!