fan wedding bouquet

Definition:

Your florist can create a fan wedding bouquet in several ways. It may feature flowers tucked into or wired onto a plastic or metal fan, the bouquet may feature feathers to create the fan shape, or the flowers themselves may be arranged in a fan shape. You can create a fan wedding bouquet with any flower type, but medium sized flowers with long stems work the best.

This bridal bouquet style enjoyed a brief resurgence in the 1980’s, when it was impossible for a bride to have too much lace and ribbons. Today’s renderings of fan wedding bouquets work best in a wedding with an Asian or Victorian theme, as it’s an unusual style not utilized in classic or traditional weddings.

Pursuit of Happiness Iris

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Begonia ‘Richmondensis’

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lady's tresses

Lady’s tresses isn’t on the top 10 list for American landscapes, but this native orchid has much to offer gardeners with a little shade and a lot of moisture. Each flower spike can carry up to five dozen fragrant flowers that will perfume the late summer or early fall shade garden.

Latin Name:

Lady’s tresses belong to the genus Spiranthes, and are members of the Orchidaceae family.

Common Name:

Lady’s Tresses, Nodding Lady’s Tresses, Lady’s Tresses Orchid

Lady’s tresses grows in zones 3 to 9.

Size of Lady’s Tresses:

These plants hug the ground when not in bloom, but in early autumn, the one-foot tall flower spikes of lady’s tresses emerge. By the time the plants bloom, the foliage may be completely dormant.

The flowers of lady’s tresses are white, bell-shaped, and slightly ruffled at the edges. The flowers grow in a spiral around the spike, and open from bottom to top. The flowers are about the same size as snapdragon flowers.

Foliage of Lady’s Tresses:

Through most of the growing season, your lady’s tresses will appear in the garden as inconspicuous clusters of deep green rosette foliage.

Many shade flowers are lacking in fragrance, and lady ’s tresses happily fills that void. Some gardeners describe the scent as vanilla spiked with jasmine, reminiscent of a lilac.

Lady’s tresses is a threatened or endangered native wildflower in some states, and gardeners shouldn’t collect species from the wild. Instead, purchase specimens from reputable nurseries.

Pair lady’s tresses with other plants that don’t mind soggy conditions. One that comes to mind is bletilla, the perennial hardy ground orchid. However, this flower won’t come back north of zone 6, so gardeners in colder regions may want to try the moisture-loving candelabra primrose or the perennial cardinal flower.

Remember that for much of the spring and summer, your lady’s tresses plants will look insignificant, as the foliage grows low to the ground. You can plant lady’s tresses behind another low growing bog plant, like perennial blue moneywort, and then enjoy the flower spikes when they rise in the background.

fall flowers

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dahlia profile

What flower gardener doesn’t want to boast a blossom bigger than his head? Dinner plate dahlias are the anomalies everyone wants to talk about, but this genus has so much more to offer.

Latin Name:

Genus Dahlia, Family Asteraceae

Common Name:

Dahlia

Zone:

Annual, except in zones 10 and 11

Size:

12 inches to 4 feet

Exposure:

Full sun

Bloom Period:

Mid summer to first frost

The American Dahlia Society describes 20 classifications of dahlias, but you don’t need to familiarize yourself with all of them unless you plan to start showing flowers. Some of the more common varieties you’ll see at your garden store include cactus, pompon, and water lily. Many flower gardeners want the fully double flowers of cactus and dinner plate types, or the charming pompon spheres. You can also choose from single varieties that resemble the shape of a daisy and don’t need staking.

There’s no magic soil formula for growing good dahlias. They thrive in similar conditions to a healthy vegetable garden plot. In fact, a row of dahlias makes a nice disguise for a front yard vegetable garden.

Provide your dahlias with: Soil that drains wellPlenty of humusA pH of 6.5

Plant dahlias when all danger of frost is past. Dig a 12-inch hole, and add about ? cup of bone meal to the planting hole. If your dahlia variety needs staking, you can insert the stake at planting time to avoid injuring the tuber.

Keep your dahlias blooming from June until frost : Fertilize every two weeks with a high phosphorus, 10-30-20 fertilizer.Control pests and diseases like slugs and mildew.Keep soil evenly moist.Stake new growth as needed.

Don’t expect to plant one dinner plate dahlia variety and cultivate a plant smothered in 10 inch blossoms. Most jumbo flowers are the result of pinching off all but one flower, resulting in a show-quality blossom.

At the end of the growing season, you can dig and store your dahlia tubers, or let them perish if you wish to buy new tubers the following season.

With tens of thousands of varieties to choose from, how can we mere mortals choose the perfect specimen for our gardens? The American Dahlia Society eases our burden by publishing a list of the “Fabulous Fifty,” a selection of varieties that have won at least 50 blue awards that year.

Here’s a sampler to get you started:

April Dawn: Large lavender and white flowers Bodacious: A dinner plate type with sunset colors Jessie G: Purple ball variety Mary Jo: Coral, semi-cactus type Shea’s Rainbow: Variegated pink and yellow cactus

Autumn Wedding Cake Flowers – Sunflowers and Roses

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American Begonia Society

Herbert P. Dyckman of Long Beach, California started the California Begonia Society with a group of enthusiasts. By 1934, the organization had garnered national interest and changed its name to the American Begonia Society. Today, the ABS has 54 regional membership branches in the United States and hundreds of at-large members worldwide.

Although there are large pockets of members on the east and west coasts of the United States, the American Begonia Society counts half of its members as not affiliated with any branch. The organization keeps members apprised of new cultivars, and shares growing tips through The Begonian, regional meetings, and horticultural correspondents.

Conservation is an important aspect of begonia appreciation, and the society furthers this effort through its support of species banks, seed swaps, adopt-a-species projects, and collecting trips. Members can choose between annual, sustaining, benefactor, and life membership levels.

Begonia ‘Torch Pink’

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Silverado Iris

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wedding flower shapes

Understanding the diversity of flower shapes can help brides communicate with their florists about the best flower choices for their bouquets and wedding arrangements. Learn to categorize flowers into these eight basic shapes, discover the best way to incorporate certain shapes into arrangements, and review examples of each flower shape.

Photo © flickr user 1laThese symmetrical flowers are adaptable for all types of wedding flower arrangements. You can add daisies to a mixed flower centerpiece for a fresh, simple look, or you can create a monochromatic bridal bouquet out of hot pink gerbera daisies that looks very contemporary.

globe amaranth

Children love to pluck the cheerful flowering globes of gomphrena in the garden, as the spiky puffs have that tactile appeal. Butterflies are also drawn to the purple, pink, or red flowers of the globe amaranth, but deer tend to pass them by. Globe amaranth flowers are excellent candidates for drying, but they’re just as nice from the cutting garden for fresh flower arrangements. Don’t be surprised if you find that the cut flowers have started to root in the vase when you discard your flower arrangement; that’s how easy these plants are to grow.

Gomphrena globosa

Common Name:

Globe Amaranth

Zone:

An annual in frost-free zones, but grows best in areas with hot summers.

Size:

Height: one to three feetWidth: one foot

Exposure:

Globe amaranth grows best in full sun to partial shade. Too much shade reduces blooming and makes plants lanky.

Bloom Period:

Early summer to frost

Gomphrena grows well in average garden soil to slightly sandy soil. Plants still bloom in heavy clay but height may be somewhat stunted. Globe amaranth tolerates wet or dry conditions, but don’t plant in areas with standing water.

You can start globe amaranth from seed, but the plants take about eight weeks from seed to flower, so start seeds indoors in late winter for earliest blooms. It’s easy to collect seed from globe amaranth flowers at the end of the growing season; you can find a seed at the base of each petal.

Red Roses and White Jasmine Flower Accents

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indian pink

The tidy habit of the Indian Pink is a welcome change from woodland flowers that take over the entire garden, like lily-of-the-valley and dead nettles. In its native habitat, you might find this uncommon wildflower growing along shady streams in woodland areas. However, there’s no need to poach plants from the wild; an increasing number of nurseries are satisfying the consumer demand for this plant.

Latin Name:

Indian Pink belongs to the genus Spigelia marilandica, which is part of the Loganaceae family. The Indian Pink plant is unusual in that most other plants in the Loganaceae family are tropical or annual flowers.

Indian Pink, Woodland Pinkroot, Worm Grass

USDA Hardiness Zones:

Indian Pink plants grow in zones 5 to 9. The native range of the plant is in the Southeastern part of the United States, but gardeners in other parts of the United States can try their hand at growing this low-care plant if their shade garden has rich loam and moist conditions.

Indian Pinks form clumps that grow between 12 and 18 inches.

Flowers of Indian Pink Plants:

Indian Pink plants flower during May and June, revealing crimson tubular blossoms that terminate in a yellow, five-tipped flare.

In addition to giving Indian Pink a sheltered, shady spot in the garden, you must provide this flower with rich, moist soil. Like most wildflowers, Indian Pink doesn’t require fertilizer, but it does appreciate the nutrients from a regular application of compost or leaf mold.

You can propagate the Indian Pink through division, or by gathering ripe seedheads from faded blossoms in early summer. Try to collect the seedheads before they burst, ejecting the seeds willy-nilly into the garden.

delphiniums

Let’s state the facts up front: Delphiniums are finicky flowers, and even for gardeners with the perfect climate and soil, they are short-lived perennials. Most plants decline rapidly after the third season of growth.

Now, let’s sweep aside those minor inconveniences and get these blue beauties into our gardens. No other perennial flower offers the range of royal, midnight, and sky blue hues combined with the drama of a six-foot flower spike. Delphiniums also grow in complementary white, pink, and lavender tones, sometimes with contrasting black or white centers.

Genus Delphinium, Family Ranunculaceae

Common Name:

Larkspur

Zone:

Hardy in zones 3-7, but performs poorly in areas with hot summers.

Size:

2-6 feet, depending on the variety

Exposure:

Full sun, or partial shade with morning sun in hot areas.

Bloom Period:

Early summer

Delphiniums demand moist soil, but they will rot in heavy clay with poor drainage. If you have problems with clay soil, it’s better to build a raised garden bed for the delphinium planting site. Even with staking, delphiniums don’t like to be whipped around by high winds, so place them close to the house or a privacy fence for protection.

Delphiniums are one of the perennials that thrive in alkaline soil, so if your pH falls below 6.5, broadcast some lime in the planting area.

Like many garden ornamental plants, delphiniums are susceptible to aphids, slugs, powdery mildew, and rust. A bacterial disease called “blacks,” sometimes mistaken as bacterial black spot, is actually a manifestation of cyclamen mites. These mites are invisible to the naked eye and resist treatment, so gardeners should remove affected plants.

Begonia ‘Cocktail’ Series

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aster

Like garden mums, asters flower in response to the shortening days of fall, giving gardeners a carpet of daisy-like flowers on a compact plant from August through September, depending on the variety.

Asters are a rich source of nectar, and because they flower at the height of monarch butterfly migration season, they are a frequent way station for these insects. The flowers are also bee magnets, so individuals with bee sensitivities should plant asters away from the garden path.

Family Asteraceae, Genus Symphyotrichum

Common Names:

Michaelmas daisy

Zone:

Zones 3-8, depending on variety

Size:

Dwarf ground cover varieties like Snowdrift may grow no taller than 4 inches. Native asters can grow up to 3 feet tall, and may require staking.

Exposure:

Sun to partial sun

Bloom Period:

Late summer through fall

Perennial asters grow on mounding or upright plants with lance-shaped foliage, producing autumn blooms in shades of blue, red, white, and pink. The flower is welcome in the fall garden to complement mums, which aren’t available in blue shades.

Asters make a good cut flower for fall arrangements. Cut the flowers late in the evening to avoid contact with avid bee visitors. Take stems when about 1/5 of the flowers are open for the longest vase life.

Asters appreciate soil on the slightly acidic side, with a pH ranging from 5.8 to 6.5. If your soil is alkaline, you can correct it by adding organic matter such as well-rotted manure, leaf mold, or compost.

Although asters are common in garden centers in the fall, when they are visually appealing, the plants need some time to develop a root system before the ground freezes if you expect them to come back in the spring. Plant asters as soon as they’re available in early fall, and keep them moist during any late hot spells to help them settle in.

Gardeners often blame the death of an aster the following year on hardiness issues, but many asters perish over their first winter due to heavy soils and poor drainage. If you have heavy clay in your flower garden, plant your asters in raised beds or consider double-digging the soil.