Wedding flowers on the way!

I got up early with my buckets and scissors and headed out to the garden yesterday morning.  I carefully selected and trimmed each flower and tucked them into my buckets.

The best of the best went to Belle Fiori for their addition to the table and church arrangements.  Zinnias were definitely my go to flower for this was my most heavily planted as well as the most seasonally select in my garden.  The hydrangea bush still had a few blooms on it with a nice pink blush so those went in as well.  I had some statice and Mexican torch flowers that added to the bright colors my daughter desires for her fall wedding.  To round out the selection, I tucked in some previously cut and dried hare's tail grass.  Michelle did not like this from the seed catalog description, but I ordered it any way.  When she saw them hanging in the basement, she had to agree that they were going to be sweet additions.  The women in the flower shop were most intrigued by the grass of all the things I brought.

I get to see how things all came together tomorrow morning when we pick them all up.  I can hardly wait!

Cutting flowers, keeping them growing

It has become my challenge to cut and dry the flowers that are ready for the wedding.  It has also been a challenge to keep up with dead heading and keeping the fresh flowers looking fresh.  Taking a week away from the garden made that job a little tougher, but I do not regret a week of camping during the beautiful fall weather.

Some things that have dried nicely so far are statice, hare's tail grass, and straw flowers.  I also dried some bells of Ireland and the dried effect is pretty nice.  I have hung up hydrangeas but the ones kept in water in an upright state seem to look better as they dry.  I cut some of the Autumn Joy sedum tonight in hopes for something interesting.

The zinnia crop is still looking good on the fresh cut end.  Some varieties are getting powdery mildew while others are not as bad.  The cosmos looks pretty good, but it wants to go to seed and keeping up with dead heading is becoming tough.  I would like to have some seed for next year, so it may not be in the flower arrangements.  If we have nothing come through, it really doesn't matter as the florist will just go with what we ordered in the first place.

I have a veil to sew, so I better get to it.

Flower Garden Pictures

This garden has asters, Alysum, larkspur, and cone flowers that reseed themselves

I potted up all the flowering kale and assembled all for easy watering.  My husband commented that he liked it all together.

Three Mandevilla vines grow as one.  These I take in for the winter.  Cut back hard for easier storage.

Half of the Thunbergia vine in my garden is from gathered seeds. The Hydrangea is in glorious bloom even after taking off many for drying.

The wedding flower garden got a bit of a hair cut to make more light for the varieties I am trying to encourage more.  It is still beautiful and the hummingbirds don't seem to mind.

My grandmother's garden before I came along.  I love this picture of my older sisters.

Cut flowers for the bridal shower

I was up bright and early on Sunday morning.  Partly because I usually am and partly because I was thinking about how much time it was going to take for me to finish all I needed to do for my daughter's shower.  The first job on my list was to cut the flowers for the table decorations and subsequent party favors when it was all done.  It was barely light out when I grabbed my cup of coffee, scissors, and buckets of water.  The weather was perfect for cutting flowers.  There was a little dew and it was still cool, 60's, when I started.

I went through each bed cutting the flowers by type.  Zinnias are the lion's share of the beds.  There is plenty other things that were looking so lovely in the early light of day.  The job became a prayer.  I enjoyed shaking out the docile bees that had taken over night shelter in the blossoms rather than flying home the night before.  I was able to carefully select and cut each stem, thinking of the seeds I planted that became these beautiful plants.  I thought about a loving husband that built a brand new bed in the sunny part of the yard for their roots to take hold.  I thanked God for the sunshine and rain that helped them grow.  The balance of cool and warm temperatures that brought them along with minimal insect and disease problems.  I also said a prayer for each person who would be taking them home to enjoy in their own house.  Most of all, I thought of my daughter who has grown into a beautiful woman ready to start her married life to a wonderful guy who will be our first son.  I thank God every day that they found each other.

I would love to show you how lovely 30 different vases and various containers of flowers look together. Sadly, my day became a rush of activity once we reached the party facility and I was happy to get them arranged and on the tables in under 20 minutes.  It was lovely!  I am happy to share what I have to give a small idea of the outcome.

The bride to be on the right with friends

Mom with the maid of honor