Summer Wedding Flowers- Check Out Feverfew, Part 1

As the garden beds wind down for the season, I thought I would take a look back and write a little about some of my favorite garden picks that LOVE to play the supporting role in bouquets and centerpiece designs. And one of the best for summer weddings is Feverfew.

 There are two forms that I grow- the double flowers as in the picture above, and the single daisy-like flowers as in the picture below.

 The post is going to focus on the single flower form.
Once you have this plant in your garden, it's pretty easy to keep it. I have found feverfew to be a short lived perennial, but it reseeds so easily that I usually have plenty in the garden. The plants stay low throughout the winter and then start to shoot up in March and April. The bloom time is from mid April through late May or early June. Leave some of the flower heads on the plant until they have died to ensure they reseed. Afterwards I suggest cutting the plants back to keep the clumps neat.
Check out a few bouquets that feature this Oh-so-sweet-flower!

Katie's yellow bouquet from last June was also designed with yellow Babe spray roses, brown-eyed Viking mums, sunflowers, Queen Anne's Lace and English ivy.

Coral and white zinnias, white calla lilies, blue Chinese delphinium  look great with clusters of feverfew...

And so does this bouquet of Snow on the Mountain Euphorbia, yarrow and white roses.

Two good sources for seeds are Select Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds

Beautiful Corals for Katie and Will's Wedding- The Real Pictures

It's so exciting to share the REAL PICTURES from the weddings of couples that I have worked with.

I am continually amazed at the talent that goes into capturing the images of such a monumental day. Katie and Will's September 1st wedding was just incredible, and their photographer, Perry, of Perry Vaile Photography did an outstanding job of capturing the joyful emotions of their special day!!!
Take a look and I am sure you will agree...

Katie's choice of colors were corals, soft peaches, creams and ivories. The finishing touch for the bouquets were flowing ribbons of satin and organza.

Here are some priceless shots of Katie with her bridesmaids....

 

Of Will and all the men in the wedding party sporting bow ties....

And touching moments of father and daughter, and two sisters who really are best friends.

 Jones Chapel on the campus of Meredith College was such a classic venue for their wedding.

After the wedding the guests made their way to the University Club in Raleigh to continue the celebration. Perry really took time to capture so many of the personal details...

The little things that make this wedding unique to Will and Katie....

Click here to see more wonderful images of their special day.

Cafe Au Lait Dahlias and Amnesia Roses for Mary and Brad's Wedding

They're coming home tonight from their honeymoon- home to a new way of life- my daughter, Mary, and her husband, Brad, are now newlyweds!

So many folks were involved in helping pull things together for their wedding- friends, brothers, aunts and uncles...
 Brad's Mom, Terry, put together a WONDERFUL dessert table with 500 individual, homemade, very yummy little cheesecakes- they were incredible!!!
Wilson was the behind the scenes man, setting up the arbor for the ceremony and making OODLES of wooden boxes for centerpiece designs.
 I even had boutonniere help from Mary's sister, Natalie, and of course my friend, Sandy, came over to help with the flowers as well.
The flowers.. Mary would send me a link or put images on Pinterest to give me ideas of what she and Brad liked. Soft muted colors, her favorite flower- Amnesia roses, and to humor me- something from my gardens. I joked with her last April... "I'm planting these Cafe Au Lait Dahlias just for your bouquet..."
I was so excited the Lord gave me some beautiful blooms to pick from !

 Brad and Mary wanted to use succulents for the boutonnieres. Here are a couple of images of Natalie's creations.

We used Wilson's wooden boxes for many of the centerpiece designs.

And filled them with Amnesia roses, eucalyptus, Majolica spray roses, hydrangeas and wax flowers.
A great "do ahead" were some of the small wooden boxes filled with succulents.

Hopefully some of these babies will keep on growing in their new potted homes.
All in all it was a crazy, wonderful time.

 And now the new chapter is about to begin... Brad and Mary, I am praying God's blessing for you as you begin your wedded life... Love, Mom

Sun Coleus for Fall Weddings

Some great plants for autumn weddings are of course dahlias and zinnias, but another plant to consider is one that has showy leaves instead of flowers. One of my favorites for fall is the Sun Coleus. These plants are workhorses in the summer border, and they come in a wide range of colors. Sun Coleus (as their name implies) can take full sun. Keep them watered and they will perform all through summer until frost. Another great feature is they look wonderful in cut floral arrangements and bouquets. 

The Sun Coleus in the bouquet below demands your attention just as much as the flowers. The rich bronze color leaves with the scalloped chartreuse edging say "Look at Me!". These beauties work well with the traditional autumn gold of solidago, orange dahlias and yellow zinnias and  a lovely draping Opopeo Amaranth.  

They can also be well mannered when combined with a more subtle color palette of white dahlias and antique mauve sedums and green spikes of perilla.

Brides contemplating something different for the autumn bouquets for 2013 may want to really consider adding Sun Coleus to their flower list.