Grow Your Own Bouquets Part 3

Hydrangeas in a wedding bouquet

 This will be the last installment of this series and there are SO MANY things I want to write about but I can't walk away from this topic without sharing some awesome perennial plants to add to your

bouquets. The best part is that you only have to buy these plants once and they will provide beautiful flowers for you year after year. Here are some great ones to consider. 

1. Hydrangea. These flowers are so elegant and sought after. Three heads of hydrangea, all on their own, are a beautiful floral arrangement. Very easy to grow. 

2. Lilies. Oriental and Asiatic lilies are beautiful perennials grown from bulbs and are just gorgeous in arrangements. The Oriental lilies also smell heavenly. Don't try this with day lilies as they will not last when they are cut. 

3. Roses. Duh. Yeah I know. For bouquets, I recommend hybrid  tea roses for longevity in the vase. Color options are limitless. 

4. Garden Phlox (not creeping phlox) make a beautiful flower filler and are easy to grow. 

5. Ferns and hostas. If you have any shady areas, you can grow any number of ferns or hostas for greenery. 

6. Delphinium. If you're up for  a challenge, you can grow your own delphiniums. They are a rare blue flower with lots of height but they can be tricky. 

7. Lilac. These don't bloom for a long time but they are worth it for how pretty they are and how amazing they smell. 

8. Spring bulbs. Taller versions of tulips, daffodils and Iris can all be lovely in a vase but won't last as long as other flowers might in a vase. However, getting daffodils to naturalize in your yard is so cheap and easy that enjoying an arrangement for a few days can be worth it. 

Do you have a favorite perennial flower for bouquets? Be sure to write about it in the comments below. 

Grow Your Own Bouquets Part 2

Zinnias

 Last week, I wrote about the basics and benefits of growing your own bouquets. This week, I want to give you lots of ideas for which flowers to grow. There are so many to choose from that this week will be all about annuals - plants that complete their life cycle in one season and need to be reseeded each spring. For those of you who don't know, aside form my love of gardening, I have several years experience as a florist so this is really a fun combination of the two. Here are some suggestions to get you started. Keep in mind that all these flowers need full sun and be sure to get the tall varieties (at LEAST 18 inches high). 

Focal Flowers: Traditional bouquets will have at least one really eye catching flower that grabs your attention and is quite often larger that the other flowers. Here are some ideas...

1. Zinnias and colorful and easy to grow. I recommend the Benary's Giant Mix for cut flowers.

2. Sunflowers are also easy and popular. Be sure to select a variety with smaller heads. 

3. Gerbera Daisies are beautiful but are trickier to work with due to their fragile stems. I recommend buyin plants instead of starting from seeds. 

4. Marigolds. Very easy and lovely to grow. Again, be sure to get a taller variety. 

Line Flowers. These are flowers that add height and dimension to an arrangement. Think tall and thin. 

1. Snap dragons. SO PRETTY! Again, be sure to get a tall variety. 

2. Larkspur

3. You can, in fact, grow your own Molucella or Bells of Ireland if you want to do something different and fun. 

Snap Dragons

Secondary Flowers or filler flowers. These are usually smaller than the focal flower but serve to add a lot of interest and fullness. 

1. Baby's Breath. Yup the stuff in the store can be grown in your garden. 

2. Alstromeria. Another common florist flower than you can grow yourself. 

3. Asters. There are tons of Asters to choose from. They're all great. 

4. Celosia. You may not recognize the name but you've seen the flowers. They're especially popular in the fall. Speaking of which....

5. Straw Flowers. The texture of these is just crazy. Easy to grow too. 

6. Sweet William

7. Bachelor Buttons

8. Statis

Greens. These are always under appreciated but so helpful in putting together bouquets. Unfortunately, most greens I would use are perennial so they don't go in this post. However, I have found it fun to experiment and think outside the box when it comes to greens. Here are a few ideas.

Alstromeria. 

1. In high summer I actually like to use vegetable greens with bouquets. Beets, Swiss Chard and even Carrot greens work great in cut arrangements. 

2. Herbs like basil, dill and lemon balm will work and add a little scent too. 

3. Because you're using incredibly fresh flowers, you can often use the foliage on the flowers instead of stripping it off and that will add greenery. (Always strip of the foliage that will be under water). 

So, pick a few things from each category and plan out your garden! Also, stay tuned for next week when I'll talk about useful perennial plants. 

Grow Your Own Bouquets Part 1

Everyone loves flowers. Currently, it's January and I'm starved for their freshness and color. However, florist flowers can be pricey and most people can't afford to keep them on their table all the time. Growing your own bouquets is completely doable for even a beginner gardener assuming you have some yard and sunshine to work with. This is the first of 3 posts on how not just to grow flowers, but how to grow bouquets. We'll start with how to get started. 

First, choosing a good sight is the most important thing you can do to ensure gardening success. Many shortcomings can be over come but you MUST have lots of sun and soil must not be too water logged. Almost all annual flowers you can grow for a cutting garden will require at least 6 hours of sunlight per day in the summer. It's also essential you don't plant in a low depression where water collects as it will cause root rot. 

Second, get an idea of what kind of soil you have. You can either 1) get a highly detailed report from your local extension office for a nominal fee. OR 2) buy a DIY soil test and get an idea of what nutrients your garden needs and it's PH level. OR 3) You can make some general observations about your plants and dirt to give you clues of what you're dealing with. (What plants are already happy? What grows well in your neighbors yard? What color is your dirt? How loose is it?) I'm going to strongly recommend doing option 3 in addition to option 1 or 2. 

Third, if you can, locate your garden near a source of water. You'll be thankful in July and August when it's dry and your garden needs supplemental watering. 

Finally, when you're selecting varieties, be careful to plant flowers that will reach at least 24 inches tall. There are beautiful dwarf zinnias and marigolds but the stem length doesn't lend itself to cut flowers. 

You can find seeds in a multitude of catalogs or at any garden center in the spring. With a small investment and a little work, you can keep beautiful flowers on your table for months and also bless your friends and family. Stay tuned for the next two posts for plant ideas!

Abigail and Jason January 2017

This past weekend I has the privilege of being a bridesmaid in my friend Abbie's wedding. She also gave me the opportunity to arrange her flowers. She really wanted an elegant, winter look without any kind of allusion to the holidays we just passed. Here is what we came up with...

 

The most important thing is the bride's bouquet. You can see my friend Abbie holding it and I also include the other shot so you can see the special wrap I did around the handle. It's all about the details so this bouquet has blush pink roses, dark purple phaleonopsis orchids, dusty miller, white alstromeria, blue thistle, white statis and evergreens. More complex than my bouquets usually are, I think these flowers look great together.

Here is one of the bridesmaid bouquets. Very similar the the bride's bouquet but without orchids and smaller overall. 

And here you see the assorted wrist corsages and boutonnieres I put together. I love the dainty evergreen with the small spray roses. The blue thistle makes for a more modern look for the guys. To coordinate with the bride's bouquet, I did a special orchid boutonniere for the groom. 

Woodland Wedding Flowers

I recently got hired to arrange some flowers for a bride who wanted a  whimsical, woodsy wedding. She picked out all the flowers and I got to put them together. I really love her dahlias and hanging amaranth.

Here is her Brides bouquet.














Pin on corsages for the mothers and grandmothers.

Brides Maid Bouquet

Not from the wedding, but an Anniversary arrangement I did. This only cost the person $65. Could have easily cost double at a regular florist shop.

How To Save Money on Wedding Flowers

Congratulations on your engagement! After all the excitement of the proposal and announcements,

you'll need to start planning the big day. Unless your last name is Trump or Rockefeller, you're probably on a budget and that's true for flowers as well. However, enjoying beautiful, fresh flowers at your wedding isn't just for the wealthy! Here are some tips to stick to your budget while still having a beautiful wedding.

1: Prioritize. For most brides, the bridal bouquet is the most important floral piece and will appear in the most photographs, so that is where you want to put your money. Perhaps the church flowers or corsages aren't quite as important to you. Everyone is different. The point is, put first things first.

2: Be Seasonal. Love Peonys? Great, then get married in May. Otherwise you could pay upwards of $30 a stem. Is your heart set on a fall wedding? Then Dahlias, sunflowers and mums are a good call. Buying flowers in season will not only save you loads of money, they will also look better too. Some flowers, like roses or orchids, are readily available year round.

3: Rent Your Centerpieces. Many florist shops have their own vases you can “borrow”(for a small fee) for your special day and then they will come and pick them up afterwards. You only have to pay for the flowers. Also, keep in mind that a single, large flower like a stargazer lily or hydrangea can look beautiful in a globe vase for a fraction of the cost of a traditional centerpiece.

4: Try Alternate Centerpieces. It's really the reception flowers that run up your flower bill. $60 for a lovely floral centerpiece sounds affordable till you realize you have 20 tables and they now cost $1200. So perhaps potted plants or candles would be a better option.

5: Get Double Use. Assign a friend or relative the job of transporting the church flowers to the reception after the pictures so that you can continue to enjoy them at the reception hall. Just be sure the church isn't expecting the altar flowers to be there on Sunday morning.

6: Mix It Up. Love roses? Great! But if you insist on all roses, everywhere then you're going to pay a pretty penny for them. Consider mixing your favorite, more expensive flowers (i.e. roses, orchids, calla lilies, etc) with less expensive flowers. My favorite roses are a warm lavender color. When I got married I mixed them with purple alstromeria and lime green hypericum to great effect.

7:Schedule Wisely. Want to save big money? Don't ever get married close to Valentines' Day, Mother's Day or Christmas. The cost of flowers goes way up at those times (not to mention the cost of everything else) so avoid that as much as possible.

8: Shop Around. Check out several florists on line and visit their shops. Have a sit down visit with at least a few different florists to see what they charge as well as how pleasant they are to work with. (Be sure to call ahead to schedule a meeting!)

9: Hire a freelance florist. Not looking for a boat load of flowers? Perhaps flowers aren't your biggest priority and you just want something fresh and lovely? Consider hiring a free lance florist. Not having to pay for a full time store and gift shop can keep their costs very low, just be sure to hire someone who knows what they're doing. I've been to a few weddings where they had beautiful flowers put together by someone who obviously didn't know how to arrange flowers.

10: Hire Me! If you're having an event in the greater Harrisburg, PA area and are looking for affordable, fresh flowers, then be sure to check out my website at www.thefrugalflorist.blogspot.com. I'd love to put my experience and creativity to work for you!

Elizabeth and Dave's Wedding

I  just love Elizabeth. She was awesome to work with. She loves roses and lots of color and boy, did she get it! Her bridal bouquet is my favorite one yet.

Close up of Bridal Bouquet

Boutonnieres

Brides Maid Bouquets

Mother of the Bride Wrist Corsage

Mother of the Bride Wrist Corsage