Sunday 30 September 2012

Garden roses, cupcakes and candlelight

From the moment I met Katherine I loved her enthusiasm and her obvious passion for flowers. Over tea and tiny cup cakes in June we discussed roses, colours and ideas, and wandered around her garden looking for suitable roses for her bouquet. Fortunately come the end of August, despite our rain soaked summer they did not let us down! I was able to pick enough to put in both her bouquet and the bridesmaids.
All these beautiful photographs are taken by Steve Kentish  http://www.stevekentishphotography.co.uk/
Combining 'Faith' 'Sweet Avalanche' 'Splash sensation' and 'Vendella' roses with roses from Katherine's garden and  lots of candle light at the reception for a really romantic wedding.




 And a couple of mine, taken after setting up.

 And I will just leave you with a lovely comment from the bride herself! "Thank you for the flowers, they were just what I always dreamt of!"

Sunday 23 September 2012

A country wedding in Hampshire

I have known Jason for sometime, in fact he is the man responsible for kitting out my workshop with benches, shelves and groovy racks for my ribbons, and the odd hangover!
So I was really thrilled when Katie and Jason asked me to do their wedding flowers.
They got married on a gloriously sunny September day in a tiny Church in Priors Dean. According to the vicar, only the third wedding to take place there!
Marrying into a farming family, Katie chose to include corn, along with lavender,hedgerow flowers and herbs into the arrangements for a perfect country wedding.








Congratulations Mr and Mrs Silk!

Friday 14 September 2012

Celosia



Another beautiful, but often under used flower is celosia, or 'cocks comb'. When I first saw it nearly twenty years ago, I couldn't get over its beauty! I reminded me of a sea anemone, or a piece of crushed velvet. With its glorious folds and waves, and rich colours it works well densely packed together with other strong autumnal flowers, such as the previously mentioned dahlia, but also 'Piano' garden roses, rose hips, Chinese lanterns and gloriosa lilies, like this arrangement taken from the wonderful book by Paula Pryke "Flowers Every day".


But I think I love it best, simply, on its own, where its out of world beauty shines through!



Wednesday 12 September 2012

DAHLIAS!!!!

I am often asked what is my favourite flower? The truth is I have many! I welcome the simplicity of daffodils in the spring, I adore peonies and sweet peas for their perfection and perfume and I love dahlias! I feel they are a much maligned flower, associated with allotments (though nothing wrong with an allotment!) and park gardens. But the colours and varieties they come in are endless! And they are cheap!

(All of these came from a market stall and cost me five pounds!!)

At the weekend we did a fantastic wedding, mixing dahlias of all colours, shapes and sizes with zinnias, euphorbia, astilbe, sunflowers,'Piano' roses and blackberries,
 all these wonderful seasonal flowers.
To add even more colour, we surrounded the cream jugs with coloured bottles and votives, and her bouquet was just a riot of colour with roses, dahlias, clematis, green bell and zinnias, with the bridesmaids using (slightly!) softer colours including astrantia and 'James Gallway' David Austin roses.

                      


But dahlias don't aways have to be the beautiful bold colours that we usually associate them with. One of my new favourites is one called 'Cafe au Lait' a large headed pale pink dahlia that would look stunning on its own, but here we used it with soft Vintage roses and sedum to create a romantic blend of pinks and ivories.
But however they come, on their own, mixed with other seasonal flowers or just enjoyed in the garden, I always feel that dahlia's give us that little bit of sunshine at the end of the summer!