Midsummer Wedding Flowers

 

In August I arranged flowers for a wedding reception.  I used purchased roses and garland, but the rest of the flowers came from my garden.  My dahlias were going strong and provided most of the color.  The photo above includes 'Cafe au Lait,' 'White Onesta,' 'Labyrinth' and 'Linda's Baby' dahlias.

In the small centerpieces I included roses, 'Labyrinth' dahlias, 'Ruffled Swan' anemones, 'Little Lime' hydrangeas, 'Dalmation Peach' foxgloves, peach hypericum berries, 'White Glitter' sea holly, 'Autumn Bride' heuchera, parsley seed heads, scented pelargonium leaves, mint stems and honeysuckle.

This vase for the guest sign-in table used most of the flowers listed above plus some 'Little Quick Fire' hydrangeas.  I was delighted with the dainty white anemone flowers.  I have 'White Swan,' 'Dreaming Swan,' and 'Ruffled Swan' anemones in my garden, and they are all vigorous bloomers from midsummer to frost.  'Ruffled Swan' flowers are the most substantial and my favorite for arranging.

I grew four 'Labyrinth' dahlia plants this year, and they were highly productive.  No wonder this dahlia is so popular with flower arrangers.  The twisting petals combine peach and rose shades so they blend well with many color schemes.

Here's another shot of the centerpieces en masse.  I ordered the glass cylinder vases in bulk from Amazon.

I made two of these large arrangements with a giant 'Penhill Watermelon' dahlia as the focal point of each.  

Here are the large arrangements next to the disassembled arch.  For the arch I used a garland of honeysuckle, salal and bear grass that was ordered from Costco.com, plus more flowers from my garden.  I had never created a floral arch before, so it was fun to stretch my skills.  I have no plans to become a professional wedding florist, but it has been enjoyable to help a friend or two with reception flowers each summer.