Flower Gardens

» Cottage_Garden - Flowers for Wedding

from m. "... I was wondering if you could help me. My partner and I are getting married on the 2nd June 2007. My favourite colour is cornflower blue (his is green). I would like the colour theme for our wedding to be cornflower blue but i am finding that to find a true blue is difficult and that they all tend to lean towards liliac. I was wondering if you could adivce on what blue flowers would be in bloom at this time of year, and may be put into wedding bouquets and button holes etc.

Thank you for your time

m."

(This question came via email.)

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

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» Cottage_Garden - Blue Flowers in June

Hi! Congratulations on your wedding!

I love blue flowers,too. But, blue flowers are probably the most difficult color, and cornflower blue is just so special and distinctive that we even have that special name for it, we call it "cornflower blue."

Off the top of my head I can't think of another flower with that same special bright blue color. Unfortunately, I think you are going to have a very difficult time with this.

Blue is a very rare flower color in nature so there just aren't that many to pick from. In June in the northern hemisphere you might possibly find violas locally in bloom and they come in a nice bright blue -- not too purple. (Many florist flowers are imported from around the world, so the season may not be quite that important... ) You might be able to order florist hydrangeas in a good blue, although many have a purple cast there are some truly blue ones.

If you want fresh home grown flowers or potted flowers, you might check with a local nursery or two and see what they think they might have in season in early June -- give or take about two weeks to account for any vagaries of weather. It is always so risky to try to grow your own, you can really never count on all the stars and planets to align so you have the quantity of blooms on the exact day.

With everything else going on to stress over for the big day, personally I would suggest another approach. I think it might be easier to use another color or two for the flowers, perhaps a pale creamy yellow and white or ivory, and then use cornflower blue ribbon to bring in the blue. That way you will have a much wider selection of flowers to work with -- and can have exactly the right shade of blue.

To bring in the green, you might consider gladiolus (there is actually a green one), or you could have something like carnations died to the right shade of green to complement your blue. Visually though, blue and green tend to neutralize each other a bit, so you would have to take that into account in your design. A good florist should be able to show you combinations.

If anyone else can think of a better idea, please share it!

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

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» Cottage_Garden - Information on Blue Flowers

In response to Blue Flowers in June posted by Cottage_Garden:

Just a thought, I did write a series of articles about blue flowers for the garden including everything from annuals and perennials to shrubs and vines to using accessories in blue to complete the theme or just as blue accents. (I wasn't kidding when I said I love blue flowers!) Maybe you would find something in those that didn't come to mind when I answered above.

Also, check with your florist about delphiniums. Some of these are pretty amazing sort of electric blue shades, see what they might be able to get for you?

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

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» Cottage_Garden - Wedding Flowers Update

In response to Information on Blue Flowers posted by Cottage_Garden:

Your question made me think more about this kind of flower problem -- not just getting the right color but also growing flowers for a wedding. I came up with a few tips for planning the flowers for a garden wedding, maybe they will be useful to folks desiring an outdoor ceremony... it addresses growing and buying flowers, both, to be on the safe side and reduce that pre-wedding stress! Garden Wedding Tips

-- posted by Cottage_Garden

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