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!

Wedding Flowers in Cream and White for Jenna & Todd

May is one of the most beautiful months for weddings. There's such a richness in all of nature this time of year. I guess that is one of the reasons that Jenna and Todd chose May 5th for their wedding day.
I first met with Jenna and Todd in January- they were so sweet together and very excited as they looked forward to their May wedding.
For her wedding flowers, Jenna wanted a soft blended palette of ivories, creams and whites with touches of green. Flower choices included creamy Vendela roses, Majolica Spray roses, white freesia and lisianthus.


Green hydrangeas gave a nice contrast to the Maid of Honor and Flower Girl bouquets.

White Lisianthus blooms and petite Majolica roses were used for the boutonnieres

And Mother's corsages were created with white Lisianthus, Majolica spray roses, Dusty Miller and fresh greenery from the garden.
Jenna and Todd exchanged their vows at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, and enjoyed a picturesque reception at the Aquaduct Conference Center just outside of Chapel Hill. Thankfully the rain held off for most of the festivities.

I am so happy for you two! Praying God's blessings for you as you begin your lives as husband and wife!!!

Garden Delights- Peonies and Foxglove

The month of May has made a steamy arrival! Not the best weather for flowering plants that want it just a little bit cooler- especially the peonies. I think they are going to be a memory in about a week.
So enjoy them NOW! Cut the flowers in the morning before the heat arrives- ideally before the blooms are fully opened. They will reward you with their beauty and fragrance for about 4 to 5 days.A wonderful foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) called "Camelot" has been showing up in garden centers for the past couple of years. Long spires of speckled bells in ivory, raspberry pink and lavender light up the landscape and look STUNNING in floral designs as the one above. Other flowers in this design include Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella), Larkspur, and Fairy roses.
Foxglove can be grown from seed in the late summer. Johnny's Selected Seeds
( http://www.johnnyseeds.com/ ) offers this selection as pelleted seed which makes sowing them much easier. I will try to put up a " how to" post in August.

Summer Wedding Flowers in Plums, Pink and Wine

For a one of a kind summer wedding bouquet, I suggest going with flowers that you don't see everyday. Let me introduce you to Monarda or Bee Balm. This particular variety is called Raspberry Wine.
Last year was my first year of growing this little beauty and I was very pleased. It has rich wine red tubular blooms with a fragrance that is intoxicating! The dark red pairs well with pink and burgundy as in this bouquet that also features hydrangea, gladiolus, and yarrow. The flowers have that wonderful cottage charm, and would look great for a garden or rustic style wedding. In the Raleigh, NC area the blooms will start up by late May and should persist through the end of June. A great source for this flower would be your local Farmer's Market OR Springwell Gardens of course!

Springwell Gardens

Today I want to SHOW you Springwell Gardens!

This is our little bit of earth in downtown Cary, NC, where I grow flowers for WEDDINGS and Wilson grows vegetables to EAT.
When we moved to this home in OLD Cary, (where you can still put up clotheslines and do what you want to with your yard), we decided to make garden beds. Some trees were removed and a few beds went in. Over the years we have added to them- Wilson says that I am always changing things around, and he's right!
This year we decided to really try to neaten the area up a bit. So I cleared out the middle of a HUGE garden bed, put out edging stones and mulch, and Wilson made three raised garden beds for cut flowers that were placed within this area (see picture above). We also have some raised beds further back as well.
And wherever I can squeeze them in- there are other flower beds and borders as well. I am so excited to be able to offer brides more and more "garden wedding flowers".
The picture above shows some of what's blooming now- foxglove and dianthus. And in the bed pictured below are coral and salmon-rose zinnias that should be blooming in time for Dominique and Javier's wedding in late May. I started these plants from seeds just for their wedding.
I hope to have feverfew and yellow yarrow blooming for Katie in early June as well as scented geraniums- she loves the fragrance, and Susan is looking forward to white zinnias and Snow on the Mountain Euphorbia for her late June wedding- they're just baby plants now, oh but they're growing!!
I hope to post about what's blooming throughout the season, and give you peaks of the garden beds as they change.

Pink and White Ranunculus and Hellebore Wedding Flowers

This spring the garden beds offered up a wealth of blooms in stunning pinks...

from softest blush to rich hot hues. I loved pairing them with some hot pink spray roses and a few stems of stock that I picked up from the store. Here are a couple of wedding designs that I put together a few weeks ago for Career Day at West Cary Middle School.

The flowers from the garden included pink and white ranunculus, green florets of Snowball Viburnum, Pink Impressions Tulips, Hellebore, small  flowering branches of  Bridal Wreath Spirea and Pink Flowering Almond.
The roses and stock from a local supplier filled out the designs beautifully.
Hard to believe that these flowers have already come and gone. Now I am waiting for the pause in the gardens to fill in with nigella, feverfew, yarrow and Fairy Roses.

Spring Wedding Flowers- Blue Muscari!

Muscari is such a charming spring time bloomer. The grape-blue flower heads start pushing up in early March and are found throughout my garden beds until mid April (usually).
The individual stems are rather short- about 6-8 inches, so I have to supply a separate water source in larger arrangements or bouquets. But they are definitely worth the effort.
They look great massed together as in these tiny handmade vases (or schapps glasses)...
And I love to add them to other petite designs of mixed flowers such as these white creamers that are filled with ranunculus, pansies, bridal wreath spirea and lamb's ear.
This year muscari started blooming early, and have already finished their spring time show...
They were wonderful while they lasted!!!
 Want to grow your own??? Muscari are grown from small corms or bulbs that you plant in the fall. Be prepared- these little guys multiply fast, but that's OK- you'll just have a lot more flowers each year! A good source for these bulbs is John Scheepers, or locally (in Cary, NC) you can purchase at Garden Supply Company.