Yellow Poppies and Blue Nigella for Katie's Bridal Shower

In just three weeks, Katie will be getting married. It's hard to believe!

Another little girl that I have had the privilege of watching grow up into a beautiful young woman. And I am so happy for her as she gets ready for her special day.
so yesterday was her bridal shower...
And the perfect opportunity to put together this springtime centerpiece from the garden. While the color palette for her wedding will have bolder shades, I thought these softer hues would be lovely for her shower- silvery Lamb's Ear and Dusty Miller, Green Spice Heuchera, blue Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella), pale yellow poppies, yarrow, and ivory Foxglove.

And in a few more weeks it will be time to do the wedding flowers!

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!

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.

Weddings- Kirsten and Daniel

Yesterday was the wedding day for Kirsten and Daniel.
When I first met with Kirsten, she was thinking of using pinks, yellows and whites for her flowers. But as we looked through photos of some of my bouquet designs, the two that caught her eyes were composed of just pinks, whites and touches of green- so these were the colors that ended up in her wedding bouquet. One of the flowers that she really was drawn to was the light pink Majolica rose. It has that charming cottage rose appeal and a lovely delicate fragrance.
Other flowers included white button mums, hot pink stock, pink lisianthus, raspberry pink scabosia, and from my garden, dark pink hydrangeas. I also added just a few green Love-in-a-Mist (nigella) seed heads. When I brought Kirsten her bouquet, I made sure that she knew she could save these pods and plant the seeds someday in her own garden.
Here are the ceremony arrangements that were later placed in the urns at the church. Each one had touches of soft pink snapdragons, stock and Majolica roses.
The bridesmaids carried bouquets of hot pink Gerber daisies, hot pink and light pink stock, light pink Majolica roses and from my gardens- soft pink yarrow.
There is a newly wedded couple today, and I am praying for God's blessing as Daniel and Kirsten start their lives together!

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....

Weddings- Melissa and Ryan

I first met with Melissa and her parents, Frank and Sue, last summer, and I have to say that I really enjoyed getting to know them over the last eleven months. Her fiance', Ryan, also came along to give his support, (I learned that he is much more into hunting and fishing than flowers, but he was there for that first visit which I think is sweet!).
We talked colors, we talked flowers and along the way some things changed, but others stayed the same. One thing that Melissa knew she wanted was lots of yellow in her bouquet. She decided to go with yellow roses and calla lilies and freesia and soft creamy yellow stock. Garden gatherings included dainty heads of white feverfew and yarrow and seed pods of Love-in-a-Mist, (Melissa can save these and plant the seeds in her own garden some day).
The centerpiece designs featured blue Mason jars filled with yellow gerber daisies, blue hydrangeas and stems of feverfew.

There were also loops of lily grass and Kimberly Queen fern fronds.

Centerpieces for the longer reception tables were designed in vintage sewing machine drawers.

Here's a shot of the bouquets boxed up and ready to go.

My daughter Natalie, who helped me set up for the wedding, was really fond of the bridesmaids' bouquets. Melissa wanted her bridesmaids to carry white flowers. She chose gerber daisies looped with bear grass.

The van packed up and ready to go- destination the Sutherlands in Wake Forest. Hilton of Hilton Pittman Photography captured some great images of the wedding- Loved the one on his blog yesterday of the new Mr. & Mrs. And I hope I can share some of his work on my blog sometime.
It was such a privilege to design the flowers for Melissa and Ryan's wedding day! I am so happy for you two and wish you all the best as you start your married life!