Weddingbee Blog

So, remember when I was all cocky about growing my own flowers for the wedding? And you all were so kind and complimentary about my choices? Well I feel it’s only fair to tell you that if this were a school project, I would get an F. Because only about 50% of my flowers are exhibiting any kind of growth. But since I’m not in school, and I’m an optimistic, half-full kinda gal, I wanted to give you a glimpse of the progress so far. As a reminder, here’s what we were trying to grow:

(from top left: dahlias, maiden grass, rudbeckia, zinnia, Chinese lanterns, red dahlias, autumn leaves, scabiosa stellata)

Here’s what we have growing:

First we have Dahlias. There are beautiful Sunset Dahlias:

Some Ruby Dahlias:

Yellows:

Variegated:

Soft golden dahlia:

Crimson:

Not sure what to call this one, but it’s one of my faves:

We also have some mums:

I’ve already talked about the progress of our autumn clematis, and our Canna lilies are trying really hard to open:

And while we have both a maple and a few maiden grasses growing in our yard, they’re not yet ready for their debut - the leaves aren’t changing yet, and the grass hasn’t yet begun to seed. We also have a couple of patches of some type of wheat-grass type plant (what? I’m still trying to learn all of the species growing in our yard) that I’ll probably use for the arrangements.

I won’t lie and tell you I’m not a little bit disappointed by some of my less ambitious seeds—I really thought the Chinese lanterns would be a beautiful touch. And the scabiosa. Oh, the scabiosa. That’s kind of an ugly name for a flower, isn’t it? Anyway, I think we’re off to a pretty good start! Here’s my first attempt at a centerpiece mock-up:

And a view from the top:

*Personal photos, unless otherwise marked

I didn’t add any of the mums to this one, but I really think it will help to fill out the arrangement. I’ve also been thinking about some kind of river rock or other filler at the bottom, but I don’t have a clear vision of how I want that to look.

Have you had any half-successes with a DIY project? What suggestions might you have to help me make these arrangements more beautiful?