Poppies- Springtime Wedding Flowers in Pastel Shades

The garden is starting to churn out flowers. Not as quickly as I would like, but they are starting up.
A new flower in the lineup is Iceland Poppy "Meadow Pastels". I have talked to several people who have grown poppies before and they all seem to think they are fairly easy to grow. This is my first year to grow this variety which is a good cut flower variety.
I ordered seeds from Johnny Selected Seeds, and started them in February. What a beautiful, delicate bloom, and I love the pastel shades of peach, salmon, pale yellow and even bright orange.
The bouquet above features Iceland Poppies, Foxglove, Fairy Rose, Feverfew, Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella), and Larkspur.
The next picture is of the same bouquet with the Foxgloves removed. I think that I like this more rounded version better.
Iceland Poppies have a short vase life- about four to five days which is just fine for wedding work. I re-cut the stems in water when I bring them in from the garden and place them in hot water to condition.
One more note about poppies there are several varieties out there and not all do well as cut flowers. Be sure to look for "Papaver nudicaule". And I am considering sowing some seeds outdoors in the fall. These plants do not seem to like the heat. I hope to plant them earlier and have them blooming by April- maybe in time for Katey's wedding!

Blue Ribbon at the NC State Fair!!!

NC State Fair means one thing to me- floral design competition! Well actually I do like to check out the other exhibits too: beautiful garden designs, bonsai "treelets", the cows and goats and chickens-- especially the chickens-- I love them, (too bad the town of Cary does not allow chickens in the town limits). And of course the food- I am not brave enough to try the Fried Oreos, but I really can chow down on the funnel cakes.
Well back to the Floral Designs- thanks to Erv Evans (who does an INCREDIBLE Job with the Flower & Garden Show) and Cleveland Plant & Flower Co., professional florists in Wake County have the opportunity to showcase their stuff just for the fun of it!
One of this year's categories was "Surprise- something special for the new mom and baby". I still have a "fair" amount of pink in the garden so of course I wanted to do something to welcome a new baby girl.
And here's the design that I entered this year. I purchased a wooden box from Michaels and whitewashed the exterior. Next I glued on pressed Larkspur florets to the box. See the DIY Wedding Flowers- Pressed Flowers from April. I also glued Larkspur to the Baby Card as well.
I grow larkspur each year from seed. NOW is the time to plant larkspur seeds for next year's blooms. I plan to put up a post next week about how to plant it.
Other flowers from the garden included dainty pale pink dahlias called Chilson's Pride and bright pink Fairy roses, scented geraniums, lamb's ear and Green Spice Heuchera leaves- these are some of the best heucheras in my garden beds!
Other flowers from my wholesaler included ivory Majolica spray roses and something I was thrilled to see- fresh pink Larkspur!
I was also thrilled to receive a Blue Ribbon for my design

Summer Bouquet- Zinnias, Nigella, and More...

The nigella (the common name is Love-in-a-Mist) started blooming around early May, and in mid May was followed by zinnias (one of my Favorite flowers-see the post "My Wedding"). Then there were the calla lilies and the Fairy Roses and yarrow and the foxglove. Whew... everyday the garden has been changing. So I wanted to work up some designs that featured late spring/early summer flowers.
These sweet little flowers are called Love-in-a-Mist because of all the fern-like wisps that surround the sky blue petals. Nigella also comes in pinks and whites, but blue has been the one that reseeds in my gardens for years. The green centers of the flowers eventually turn into little fat pods with whiskers. I sometimes cut the whiskers off. And those pods are full of seeds that can be planted in mid to late September, and after that you'll have Love-in-a-Mist come back every year!
These flowers are just made for each other. Pink zinnias, foxglove, yarrow and Fairy Rose mingled with the soft blues of nigella and lavender. I would love it if they would all stay around for the summer, but here in the South, the nigella, lavender and yarrow will soon be gone. The Fairy Rose will bloom slightly during the heat, but will put on a better show in early fall. I am soooo thankful for the zinnias... keep them watered and they will bloom like crazy all summer long.
I guess I'll settle for zinnias for now. Oh yes, and the celosia and hydrangeas and gomphrena and coneflowers and the dahlias. Summer is coming FAST....