Grow your own wedding flower?

10 years ago

I have just been giving a tall order. My niece is getting married and she asked me to grow the wedding flowers for her. The wedding is in early September. The color scheme is lavender, peachy color. Would someone please give me ideas what to grow? Thanks in advance.

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

10 years ago

That's a complicated request :-)) It is extremely difficult to predict exactly when garden grown flowers will bloom, as so much depends on local climate and weather conditions. I experience the same challenges, as I design landscapes and have had requests to design gardens that will look their "best" for a garden wedding. Hard to nail down a specific day when that would happen!!

September is considered 'late season' as far as flowering is concerned, so I'd look to plants that you know should be in bloom at that time of year. Asters come to mind, especially for the lavender coloring. And late flowering summer bulbs, like dahlias and glads, which should be available in both lavender and peach tones. The fancy colored annual callas are another possibility - they are availably in a peachy orange color. I'd also consider hydrangeas, which may not look their best on that particular date but can be cut and dried ahead of time - hydrangea blossoms, especially the blue mopheads, will often take on purple/lavender tones as they dry.

Other dried flowers could work too - globe thistle heads (Echinops), sea holly (Eryngium species), lavender.

If you have the room for them, roses can also work. There are some gorgeous peach colored roses - 'Brandy' and 'Just Joey' are stunning.

And you might need to purchase some fillers - baby's breath or wax flower or limonium.

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Comments (6)

diane_nj 6b/7a
10 years ago
Problem with roses is to get a mature plant with enough blooms for a bouquet in less than 6 months won't happen in NJ. You can fill in with purchased flowers, but I wouldn't bank on having enough roses this year.
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violetsnapdragon
10 years ago
I grew dahlias for my own wedding that took place on August 17th in central Jersey.
tamif2
10 years ago
I second the dahlias. I would also plant a lot of bupleurum to use as filler. It gets along nicely with vivid colors as well as pastels and is easy to grow. If you can find some scabisoa plants they might be good, though I can't remember if they'll still be blooming in September - early maybe. and you need to grow a number of the plants to get enough flowers as they're not always prolific. I've seen some nice bouquets with touches of ornamental grasses which you might be able to snip from friends' and neighbor's yards. You may have to purchase some of the flowers - if you have a Whole Foods nearby they may be able to order some for you and the quality of their flowers is better than other grocery stores. Good luck with this and have fun.
shp123
Original Author
9 years ago
An update about my niece's wedding.... I planted tons of dahlias but none has bloomed in time for the wedding. Bachelors buttons also dried up by end of August, probably due to the heat, but despite of my daily watering. The hydrangeas (pee gees) zinnia, cosmos, canna, sunflowers, calendula, marigold and celosia were the main event. We also had ivy, and other foliage for support as well. I had more than enough flowers for the wedding and plenty of leftovers. The flowers were used for all the bouquets, hairpieces, , center pieces, over the wedding arch, receiving tables and alter flowers, pew pouches. Everyone has a great time and without breaking the bank, that's the main idea.
lam702
9 years ago
Zinnias are a reliable choice as long as you pick them before the first frost. It is very difficult to time a flowers blooming to coordinate with a wedding, but with everblooming flowers its a bit easier. I probably have 200 peony flowers when the plants are in bloom, but I wouldn't plan on using them for my son's wedding, because their bloom time varies according to the weather. Yet when I see the price of florist peonies, I wish I could! It sounds like you had a lovely mix of home grown flowers for your niece's wedding, that is wonderful! She will always remember her aunt's beautiful flowers on her wedding day.
shp123 thanked lam702