Romantic Bleeding Heart for April Wedding Bouquets

As the end of April approaches I want to get up one more post about a great April flower for weddings. Bleeding Heart (dicentra spectabilis Gold Heart) has been a favorite at Springwell Gardens for several years. I have loved the occasions that its bloom time has corresponded with weddings.

It makes such a romantic statement in both the bridal bridal bouquet and the groom's boutonniere.

It is the perfect picture of springtime love!!!

Lily of the Valley for April Weddings

So many springtime flowers make a delightful appearance that lasts for only days, and then we must wait until again next year.

One of those flowers is Lily of the Valley. I have been watching for it since the end of March, even though I know it won't come until April.  Those delicate white bells finally started unfurling earlier this week and they were a joy to see.

  Lily of the Valley is a short stemmed flower that works well for petite designs, or it may be wired and added to larger bouquets. Another option is to provide a hidden water source

Then it can be worked into a larger design such as a centerpiece arrangement. Here it is featured with white anemones, pink, blush and white ranunculucs, hellebore, pieris and bleeding heart.

Peach and Coral Ranunculus and Bleeding Hearts for Katey and Matt

Some of the most beautiful flowers for springtime weddings are grown here at Springwell Gardens. Ranunculus, leucojum, tulips, bleeding heart, and more have been making an appearance in the garden beds since late February.
And that is just what Katey and Matt wanted for their April wedding- flowers from the garden.

When we first met last March, I showed Katey and Matt some designs that featured ranunculus in an array of beautiful colors peaches, corals, pinks and yellows... they decided these would be the perfect flowers for their wedding designs.

 

 They also liked the idea of trying to use some of the other seasonal flowers from the garden such as Angelique tulips, leucojum and bleeding heart.....

Here's Katey's bouquet filled with a colorful array of ranunculus, leucomjum, Angelique tulips and bleeding heart from the Gardens, along with coral spray roses and creamy stock.

 Matt's boutonniere featured two plump ranunculus buds and a single bleeding heart floret.

Posies for the aisle chairs were created with apricot colored snapdragons, coral spray roses and peach and coral ranunculus.

Centerpiece elements featured pussy willow, curly willow and ranunculus from the Garden in sleek cube and rectangular vases for the reception at The Umstead Hotel and Spa.

Loved having the chance to work with this sweet couple. And since they live near, I would be more than happy to help give them pointers for a flower garden of their own!

 Wishing you all the best, Katey and Matt, as you begin your lives together.

With This Knothole...

Last week I wrote about the "Art" in nature that I find on walks, and an interesting piece of "Art" to find is a knothole. These are round pieces of weathered wood from a tree with a hole in it, (this is where a branch use to be).I use pieces like these for their woody, organic appeal. I will usually anchor the knothole to my design with pins or wire and then fill the hole in with flowers and moss.
Can you see the knothole in these two pictures? It's nestled behind the pink and orange ranunculus.
Here is a thick stumpy knothole that's about the size of my hand.
I used it for a spring time design of Lily of the Valley, Blue Bells and Bleeding Heart.
I enjoy adding finds like these to make the designs interesting. Yes, I know it's not a really big deal, and many people will overlook it. But I also know there are a few people that will spy things like knotholes and such and be enchanted.

Spring Time Wedding Flowers in Hot Pink

The Southern Bridal Show & Expo was GREAT!!! I loved meeting lots of excited brides and some really fun wedding professionals too. The colors for the flowers I used included lots of bright hot pinks, fuchsias, yellows, corals and chartreuse. But I also included some soft pinks and blues as well. Last week's post featured flowers from my garden beds that I planned to use in some of my designs, and this week's first post shows some of those flowers off in this sweet bouquet. My favorite flower in this design is Bleeding Heart- it's the hanging strand of pink hearts.
This is the first year I have used Bleeding Hearts in a bouquet design, and I thought the flower held up very well. I would love to have a bride next April who would want to include it among the flowers in her bouquet! The tulips are the soft pink Foxtrot and the rich deep pink Barcelona. I plan to grow both of them again next year. Other flowers from the garden include the delicate blue hyacinthoide or bluebells and apple green hellebore.
Anemones from the garden were also featured in this bouquet- I loved having flowers from the garden in my spring floral designs for the Bridal Show!!!
Tomorrow I will have some actual pictures from the Bridal Show. I met the very talented Christa of Christa Davidson Photography at the Show. She's a wonderful young woman with an artist's eye- I loved her booth design! And she agreed to take some shots of my booth for the blog.