Equinox Flower Thoughts

We're quickly approaching the equinox, which for us means that its getting harder and harder to get out of bed and go for a surf in the chilly mornings, but for those of you on the other side of the world, it means spring is coming! Which means, I really need to start thinking about what kind of flowers I want. Pronto.

We still have 5 months until the wedding, why so early? Because we are hoping that our talented friends and family will be able to grow us all of the flowers we need for the wedding. Which means said flowers need to be planted. Which means this veggie farmer needs to start thinking blooms.

Looking back I see that I went about this process in the complete wrong order. You see I scoped out ideas, fell in love with certain flowers, and then figured out what they were called and when they were in season. This whole process involved some mild heartbreak when I found out that peonies and ranunculus (two of my faves) will definitely not be in bloom in the Eastern U.S. in August. I probably should've found a list of what is in bloom, then picked some off of that that I loved. Oh well… live and learn.

Here were the inspiration for my flower choices: (You knew I'd have an inspiration board or two for you).
Sources: Top: Left, Center, Right; Middle: Left, Left-Center, Right-Center, Right; Bottom: Left, Center, Right


Sources: Top: Left, Center, Right; Middle: Left, Center; Bottom: Left, Center, Right



And here are the blooms that are involved in making these dreams come true:
Sources: Phlox, Brassica, Aster, Craspedia, Chrysanthemum, Zinnia, Peony, Dahlia, Poppy, Garlic Scape, Ranunculus

Yep, included in that list are brassica (cabbage) and garlic flowers. What would a veggie wedding be without some veggie blooms?

Luckily after researching what is in bloom, almost all of these are possible. We'll probably need to say goodbye to peony and ranunculus, but I'm still holding out hope for late blooming varieties that might be grown by our guests coming from Maine and New Hampshire. Garlic scapes are also an early summer flower, but here's hoping that one of our creative friends finds a way to set some back (Piling snow on top of the garlic bed? Planting them in shade?).

There are some drawbacks to our approach to flowers. Will we know ahead of time what our centerpieces and bouquets will look like? No. Will we have to spend time the day of putting it all together? Yes. Will I have strict creative control over how it all turns out? No. But we're O.K. with all that. For us, the upsides: no money spent, the love of our friends and family going into our big day, and a low carbon footprint, definitely outweigh all the drawbacks.

How did you decide on which flowers you wanted to be included in your wedding? Are you including any non-traditional flowers?