Summer Wedding Flowers- Check Out Feverfew, Part 2

 

Last week's post was about a great garden flower for summer weddings- feverfew! There are several forms of this late spring/ early summer blooming flower. The single flower form (last week's post) looks like camomile. This week will focus on the double flower form.These are frilly blooms are about the size of your tip of your index finger with soft yellow centers.

Feverfew is a short lived perennial. I usually grow the double flower version from stem cuttings that are rooted in late summer.  Last year I had great success with the cuttings that I rooted from a lone plant, so in the spring there were drifts of feverfew in bloom. I cut back about one third of the plants before they ever bloomed and was able to extend the blooming period for a couple of weeks.

The double-flower form looks more refined and is beautiful in wedding bouquets and centerpiece work.

Its bloom season is from mid May through late June. Other garden flowers blooming at Springwell at that time include Queen Ann's Lace, calla lilies, Snow on the Mountain,  zinnias, summer phlox, dianthus and yarrow.

The stem cuttings from this past summer are well rooted and I am looking forward to having plenty of flowers for weddings next May and June!

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Summer Wedding Flowers- Check Out Feverfew, Part 1

As the garden beds wind down for the season, I thought I would take a look back and write a little about some of my favorite garden picks that LOVE to play the supporting role in bouquets and centerpiece designs. And one of the best for summer weddings is Feverfew.

 There are two forms that I grow- the double flowers as in the picture above, and the single daisy-like flowers as in the picture below.

 The post is going to focus on the single flower form.
Once you have this plant in your garden, it's pretty easy to keep it. I have found feverfew to be a short lived perennial, but it reseeds so easily that I usually have plenty in the garden. The plants stay low throughout the winter and then start to shoot up in March and April. The bloom time is from mid April through late May or early June. Leave some of the flower heads on the plant until they have died to ensure they reseed. Afterwards I suggest cutting the plants back to keep the clumps neat.
Check out a few bouquets that feature this Oh-so-sweet-flower!

Katie's yellow bouquet from last June was also designed with yellow Babe spray roses, brown-eyed Viking mums, sunflowers, Queen Anne's Lace and English ivy.

Coral and white zinnias, white calla lilies, blue Chinese delphinium  look great with clusters of feverfew...

And so does this bouquet of Snow on the Mountain Euphorbia, yarrow and white roses.

Two good sources for seeds are Select Seeds and Johnny's Selected Seeds

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"Snow on the Mountain" and White Rose Summer Bouquet

Snow on The Mountain (Euphoribia maginata) is blooming now in the summer beds at Springwell Gardens.
It's the green and white ruffle of leaves encircling this mixed bouquet of white roses, lisianthus and feverfew.
Snow on the Mountain is such a refreshing name for a summer plant. It's grown not so much for the flowers, but for the soft green leaves edged in white- the tiny flowers are hardly noticeable. These plants were started from seed in early March. They grow slowly at first, but add a little summer heat then they really take off. One of my favorite sources for seeds is Johnny's Selected Seeds because their catalog gives a wealth of information about how to grow the seeds you get from them! Check them out at: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
A word of caution when using any type of euphorbia- the plants excrete a milky sap when the stems are cut that may cause skin irritations in some people. Be sure to sear the stems in hot water and set aside in very warm water to condition before handling. And always wash the sap from your hands.
If you are looking for a distinctive textural element for your summer or fall wedding flowers-
You may really want to consider Snow on the Mountain!

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