Summer Garden Blooms

I used to have a rather extensive cutting garden where I grew the flowers one would find at the farmer's market or a roadside stand - zinnias (always), sunflowers, salvia, tithonia, euphorbia, just to name a few. I experimented a lot over the years and I loved being able to go outside and just cut a bunch of flowers for the kitchen table.

This wedding was reminiscent of one of those bunches I would gather on a hot summer day. With the main colors of red, yellow, and orange, I mixed in some greens, purples, and white to soften.

The bride, who hails from Germany, especially loved gladiolus, as she grew up next to a flower grower and acres and acres of gladiolus fields.  The simple and bright lines of the flowers were in perfect contrast to the plain light wood of the altar.

Materials pictured include: sunflowers, zinnias, stock, buplorum, gladiolus, larkspur, white hydrangea, gerbera daisies, freesia, orange roses, solidaster, yellow roses, ivy, salal.

Tropical Heat

The inspiration for this party was Jamaica - a favorite place of the guest of honor, the birthday girl. The host wanted bright, bright, bright colors with a hint of the exotic and I selected flowers primarily in the pinks and oranges family with pops of other complementary colors for interest - yellows, purples, greens. I also focused on texture - fuzzy, fluffy, spiky - to create additional visual variety.

The result was a riot of color and the arrangements worked wonderfully against the bright orange cloths.

Continuing along this line of bright exotics, I've included a few shots of a set of bouquets I did around the same time - chartreuse green cymbidium orchids with hot pink roses.

Using brights may seem daunting, but I encourage you to explore the outer edges of the usual pinks, oranges, and greens and try a few neons, electrics, and acids. These super bright colors are all the rage now in fashion and design, and it's fun to experiment a bit with flowers.

Materials pictured include: pink hydrangea, trick dianthus, hot lady roses, mombo spray roses, donna roses, seedum, billy ball, bullit purple allium, thistle, hypericum, concador lilies, aspidestra leaves, eremurus cleopatra orange, cymbidum orchids, and sweet unique roses.

Garden of Eden

This wedding - from late spring - gave new meanings to the words lush and abundant. Each - and I mean each - centerpiece was a unique design with different colors, flowers, and textures and each centerpiece was surrounded by smaller vases and candles also unique in color and design. The final look was intricate, layered, and a dazzling interpretation of a spring garden.

The bride works for the Philadelphia Horticultural Society and flowers were of paramount importance. She had a distinctive look in mind as she wanted all up high arrangements and a dizzying variety of flowers for a one-of-a-kind elegant and lush garden wedding.

To help draw the eye, we selected five different color waves - yellow, peach, pink, purple, lavender - across fifteen arrangements. (I tried to capture each table below.) The bridal table and surrounding areas were kept all white to frame the bride and groom. What a beautiful room on a spring evening.

The bridal and maid of honor bouquet were especially beautiful - the most precious of spring flowers in lavenders, purples, and whites.

Flowers pictured include: cream hydrangea, green hydrangea, cymbidium orchids, peonies, stock, larkspur, wax flower, cool water roses, versilia roses, cinnamon roses, skyline roses, anna roses, freesia, lily of the valley, lisianthus, calla lilies, oncidium orchids, ranunculus, snapdragon, amaranth, dendrobium orchids, green viburnum, snowball viburnum, mixed greens, mossed branches, and grasses.

Nosegays for Mothers

Bridal Bouquet

Maid of Honor Bouquet