Springtime Bouquets- Think Ranunculus!!!

Summer is chugging away, and autumn is fast approaching, and that makes me think of getting ready for SPRING FLOWERS!!!
One of my absolute favorites is Ranunculus. These are some of the most beautiful springtime flowers for weddings in March and April. These sweet lovelies are grown from thumb size tubers that are planted in late October and November. The colors are glorious- pink, white, apricot, yellow, rose, lavender, scarlet and more. Below is a picture of a gathering from the hoophouse last spring.
They look stunning as in this mixed bouquet of ranunculus, hellebore, pussy willow and tulips.

And when the bouquet is filled with masses of ranunculus... just breathtaking!

Daffodils and Springtime Weddings

Nothing says spring like daffodils, but did you know that there are some daffodils that begin to put on a show even before spring arrives.

Meet Ice Follies- this sweet little beauty usually starts blooming in late February. But this year with the mild temperatures, we started getting flowers even earlier. The creamy petals unfold to reveal a clear lemon yellow cup. As the flower ages, the cups mellows to a soft creamy color as well. Vase life is about five days.

Daffodils are absolutely lovely especially in white or yellow springtime wedding bouquets. The daffodil bouquet above features Ice Follies, Paperwhites and an unnamed solid yellow daffodil that blooms at the same time as Ice Follies. After Ice Follies will come trumpet daffodils- like King Alfred, then double petals like Bridal Crown Narcissus, and a new double petal that I am trying called White Lion.
This bouquet in the picture above is a mixed bouquet with pussy willow, yellow roses, Ice Follies, a touch of Bridal Wreath spirea and white hydrangea.
The wrap is made of narrow, pliable stems of curly willow that have been woven around the flower stems.
When working with daffodils, it is important to remember that they must be cut and placed in a container of water separate from other flowers for at least eight to twelve hours. They leak a slimy fluid that pollutes the water and can spoil the other flowers. When working them into designs with other flowers remember not to cut their stems again (so cut them short the first time).

Weddings- Megan & Paul

Winter weddings often evoke the more subtle images of beauty. Bare branched trees and evergreens, chilly sunshine and blue, blue skies, or blankets of soft gray clouds and mist, drizzle or cold rain.
For Megan and Paul there were indeed the blankets of clouds and drizzle last Saturday, but we were all thinking how appropriate for a couple who will be calling England home. And the joy of a wedding is never dampened by clouds or rain!
I have known Megan for years... Her Mom, Terry, is a very good friend of mine.
Megan is a dear, young lady with a heart for the Lord, and when she felt His call to go to England and serve in a small church there, she had NO IDEA she would find the man she would spend the rest of her life with in that place... But God did.
And last Saturday was their wedding day!
I know their story from a distance, but the parts I know are very touching. And I was delighted to join with so many others to witness this couple exchange their vows and hear Paul speak in his sweet Irish accent of "My wife..."
And of course I had a wonderful time designing the flowers that would be a part of this special day.
Megan's color palette included ivories, whites and blues. She also wanted textures and elements that would tie in with the season, yet also look forward to spring. Blue delphinium, thistle-like flowers of eryngium, pink centered waxflowers, hydrangeas, roses and seeded eucalyptus were a few of the flowers chosen for the bridesmaids' bouquets.
Boutonnieres were designed blue delphinium florets and seeded eucalyptus. Paul's boutonniere also sported a black-eyed ornithogalum floret.
Corsages were white spray roses, seeded eucalyptus and waxflower buds.
Megan's bouquet was filled with large ivory roses called Snow Blaze, ivory Majolica spray roses, blue delphinium,blue hydrangea, green hypericum berries, white stock, black-eyed ornithogalum, and seeded eucalyptus.
These flowers were also used in the ceremony designs as well as the tight pink buds of viburnum, and tall branches of fresh pussy willow stems. The centerpiece design for the refreshment table included a wonderfully twisted branch called Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (Corylus avellana 'contorta'. These branches are so interesting in the winter landscape. The trees a VERY slow growing, and the branches are not very easy to come by- so it was great to be able to cut this beauty from Megan's parents' yard.
I am so very happy for Megan and Paul. Praying for God's blessing for them as they begin their lives together!!!

Wedding Flowers- Blue Hyacinth, Pussy Willow and Hellebore

I have been waiting and waiting and it is finally here- SPRING! Well, it's been showing up slowly over the last few weeks, but the gardens are really start to fill up with blooms. I wanted to post this picture I took a couple of weeks ago of a bouquet of blue hyacinths and hellebore from the garden. In reference to my "Get Ready for Spring" post on February 27th, yes, I did pick the blue hyacinths. I also picked some of the lovely hellebore flowers too and even some pussy willow. They were fashioned into a beautiful bouquet with green button mums, lisianthus and green hydrangea.

I am so blessed to live in an area where spring begins in February!

Close-up of the hellebore.

After this post I am headed out to the garden. It's time to plant foxgloves and Neon dianthus that were started from seed back in December. I am also going to keep my eyes on the tulips that are starting to bloom- we are going to get in the low 80's tomorrow and tulips will just fly open and kind of melt in those kind of temps. So I will start picking them and putting them in the cooler.
Next weekend is CeCe's wedding and some of the tulips I planted last fall were just for her!