Seasonal Blooms for Winter Weddings

With a little planning, couples may be able to have locally sourced, seasonal blooms for their wedding day even in winter. Some of the choices include paperwhite narcissus, and a wonderfully fragrant flowering shrub called Winter Daphne.

Anemones may also be available. Here at Springwell Gardens, we grow anemones in hoop tunnels that provide some protection from the winter weather. A new plant for us is flowering kale. This ornamental version of kale actually looks like a flower. We offer it in white and purple shades.

Other elements include evergreens such as Blue Cypress and everlasting flowers such as celosia and gomphrena that are dried for winter designs.

It's a time to be creative, and this is just what we are striving to do at Springwell Gardens!  We are looking forward to offering these beautiful blooms and textures and even more for winter weddings!

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Sweet Centerpiece Designs for Spring and Summer

I am always on the lookout for something a little different to add to wedding flower designs...

whether it's a unique flower to try in the garden, a new way to present bouquets for delivery, or new centerpiece containers. So here's the latest item to catch my eye- sundae dishes.
These make lovely vases for casual, eclectic reception designs. They work with a variety of flowers and would be charming for spring and summer time weddings. The image above shows them filled with springtime bloomers such as anemones, Spanish Bluebells, muscari, viburnum and pansies. The next design features late spring flowers such as peonies, nigella, yarrow and penstemon, and old fashion Fairy shrub roses.

The designs below show them with late summer flowers such as dahlias, zinnias, African Blue Basil, crested celosia and fragrant herbs.

It's such a refreshing way to welcome guests to your reception!

Can't wait to share this idea with my brides!

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Local Flowers for Winter Bouquets

Brides who want to use local flowers for winter bouquets have to be a little creative. Here in Cary, NC, January is the most limited month for flowers, but I can still find some blooms to put together for a winter bouquet.

 

Anemones, grown with winter protection, usually start blooming by late December at Springwell Gardens and will continue through April. The primary color blooming now is a rich fuchsia. Purples and whites are starting up as well.

Foliage material with its winter hues and markings plays an important role in winter designs. Plum colored leaves of lorapetalum and nandina provide a nice contrast to silvery Dusty Miller and variegated Winter Daphne. Dried summer flowers such as pink gomphrena and fragrant blue cypress add textural interest as well. 

 As January moves into February more material will become available. Flowers to look for in February will include Winter Daphne, winter honeysuckle, daffodils, hellebore and pansies.

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Ranunculus and Anemones for Spring Weddings

This will be a busy month! In a addition to some upcoming, lovely weddings, there are of course, garden chores.

Yesterday my shipment of ranunculus and anemone corms came in. These flowers are breathtakingly lovely, and are a favorite of brides! I plan to get the first batch of corms into the garden beds later in the month. I hope to have some Carmel white anemones with dark eyes ready for Kaitlin's December wedding.

The plantings will be staggered a bit. Most of the corms should be in by mid October, but I am still experimenting with putting in a small batch for later springtime blooms. Anemones will start blooming as early as December, and will continue slowly through January. The pace will begin to pick up by late February and continue to gain speed through April.
If the temperatures for winter are normal in 2015, I expect to see the ranunculus blooming by early March.

There will also be other lovely flowers to join them- Hellebore, Winter Honeysuckle and Winter Daphne will begin to bloom in January. And I plan to set aside some protected garden space for lots of pansies. All of these flowers are absolutely fabulous for winter and early springtime bouquets.

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Blue and Purple Muscari for Springtime Weddings

Muscari or grape hyacinths begin showing up at Springwell Gardens usually by mid March. This year they came on a little later.

They are short stemmed fragrant flowers that come in shades of purple, blue and also white.

I purchase my bulbs in the late summer-early fall from John Scheepers. They have a great selection to choose from, (as well as lots of other springtime flowering bulbs). Muscari go into the ground in early November and usually bloom for about 3-4 weeks in the spring. Which makes  these great flowers to use for mid March through mid April weddings.

This year I added Valerie Finnis, a soft pale blue, and White Magic to the traditional purple flowers. I also added another interesting variety not pictured called Saffier, (more about these later).

Because of their short stems they need a separate water source when used in bouquet work, or they may be wired into the design. Oh but they are worth the effort!
Here they are in a bouquet with white ranunculus, black-eyed anemones and white fringe tulips- just beautiful.

Another great feature about muscari is that they multiply in the garden every year. So once you plant them  you will be rewarded with more and more as the years go by!

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Jewel Tone Anemone and Pansy Centerpiece and Bouquet

The garden beds are starting to crank out some real beauties! It's so exciting to watch tall stems of white and purple anemones unfurl to show off dark velvety centers. .Hellebores are starting to mellow to a mint green, and bridal wreath spirea and flowering almonds have reached their peak.  These are just some of the flowers of spring!

Here are a couple of designs that take advantage of these lovely flowers as well as others such as ranunculus,  hyacinth, viburnum, pansies and muscari.

 Muscari and pansies are delightful flowers, but they have short stems, so they had to be given a separate water source to use in both of these designs.

The ethereal beauty of these flowers makes them a joy for springtime weddings!

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Purple and Blue Pansies and Muscari for Springtime Weddings

The pansies had a rough time this year with all the cold, but they are finally starting to shine. Muscari was slow to start by a couple of weeks, but they too are now taking off..  

These blooms just shout "Spring!" and look great  in floral designs, but because of their short stems, you have to be creative. One way is to utilize the plants as well as the flowers. This short squared container lends itself well to a design in which individual plants and flower stems can be used.  

I have arranged two small pansy plants diagonally across from each other and two sedum plants along with some "hens and chicks" (sempervivum) in the other diagonal corners, then filled in with blooms from hyacinth, hellebore, anemones and muscari. The short stems of the flowers have their own water source while the plants were wrapped separately and tucked in. The container looks best when set on the table on the diagonal and offers a different view from all sides.

Another nice feature about this design is that it can be taken apart and the plants reused.  The pansies can be potted up and enjoyed for several more weeks before we really get hot (they can't take our summer heat), and the sedums can go right  into the garden bed or another container.

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Waiting...

While there is not much blooming in the gardens now, there's a lot to do to get ready for winter.

The greenhouse sheeting is on several of the hoop tunnels, and frost cloth is coming out for the cold nights ahead. The tunnels are great for growing ranunculus, anemones, Chantilly snaps, and other springtime flowers that I want to protect.

 Daffodils, leucojums, tulips, and muscari have been and are being planted, pansies have been potted, and the are lots of anemones and ranunculus pushing up in the garden.
No, there is not much blooming now- this is a time of waiting... But the good news is that the waiting won't be too long. By January there should be some early flowers to offer, then more in February and lots more in March....
So here are a few things that will be showing up SOON at Springwell Gardens-

Yes, soon the waiting will be over and I will be picking these flowers again- Just For You!

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Ranunculus and Anemones for Spring Weddings

Planting time for anemones and ranunculus is here. The summer and fall annuals have been cleared, and beds are being prepped for a whole new batch corms.
Some of the corms that I saved from last year were actually planted out in early October, and there are a few anemones that are starting to bloom.

This will be the third year of growing ranunculus and anemones at Springwell Gardens. Last year's crop was great, and I am hopeful that there will be plenty of blooms for my March and April 2014 brides.
These plants need some protection so I will be adding plastic coverings and frost cloth to the beds once the corms are in place.

    

I hope to have anemones blooming by mid December (well- with the ones blooming now, I can check that one done!)

And ranunculus should start up by mid February. The big challenge will be keeping the beds protected! We have had some mild winters lately.... But this year may be a bit colder- we'll have to wait and see. I will keep you posted on how things come along as the season progresses.

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Cerinthe- An Intriguing Flower for Springtime Weddings!

I love following flower blogs... One of my favorites is Erin Benzakein's Floret Flower Farm. Last spring she  featured a lovely flower that was new to me- Cerinthe. It's an interesting plant in the garden with its arching succulent-like stems that hold pendulous purple bells. The coloring on the leaves is striking too with overtones of peacock blue and green.

 I searched for the seeds- found them through Renee's Garden. And I am so glad that I did! So I started the seeds last fall, moved seedlings to some of my mini hoops for the winter, and started harvesting flowers last month for wedding work.
They made their first appearance in Allison's lavender, purple and plum bouquet....

And here they are featured with Angelique Tulips, wood hyacinth, white and pink ranunculus,

 rose and white anemones, and Solomon's Seal

They have definitely found a new home in my gardens. So looking forward to using them for spring time weddings next year!!!

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Beautiful Blue Anemone and Muscari for Springtime Weddings

We have been blessed with a very cool start to springtime this year, and all the spring bulb-type flowers have LOVED it. The blue muscari and anemones have been blooming for several weeks. And it has been great using them in springtime wedding designs.

The color of the anemones runs from a dark blue to a deep purple blue, and the same is true for the muscari. My pictures are a little deceiving- in real life this color has more of a purple hue. They are pictured here in a bouquet of other spring beauties- rose colored anemones,  Bridal Crown Daffodils, ranunculus,  pansies, viburnum and vinca vine.

 When the temperatures are on the cool side, each flower will put on a show in the garden that lasts for about a week. But start adding a little heat- like upper 70's and low 80's and they will melt out quickly. My advice is to pick them so you can enjoy them for five to seven days inside your home!!!

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Elegant White Ranunculus and Anemones for Springtime Weddings

SLOWLY the garden beds are coming to life at Springwell Gardens. White ranunculus and anemones have been blooming in earnest for about ten days. The white leucojums started about a week ago.  They are such elegant garden flowers, and I am loving how beautiful they are!!!
Here's a centerpiece design featuring the anemones and ranunculus in a white milk glass pedestal bowl.

The finishing touch of fresh spring greens makes such a classic statement.

White leucojum with anemones and ranunculus in this delicate bouquet below below make the perfect combination for the bride who desires an all white springtime bouquet.

 

It's so exciting to gather these wonderful treasures from the garden. They should continue blooming through mid to late April. I just need to make sure they don't get too cold in the Big Freeze tonight!

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