I need garden wedding help

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mke
mke Member Posts: 584
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer

That isn't a typo, I do mean wedding rather than weeding.

My son is getting married and they will just have a civil ceremony and I offered an open house for their friends in our garden.  They thought that was a great idea BUT they are talking about early June!!  I"m in Toronto and my early bulbs will be looking ratty, my lilies and daylilies won't yet be doing anything but green.

I will do annuals but even they don't really come into full flower until later in the year.  Any advice about fulsome early annuals or things that are good for hanging baskets?  All suggestions are appreciated.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited March 2009

    million bells (calibrocha ?)  are wonderful for hanging baskets -  so are wave petunias or serafinas - every year I buy these and plant them in hanging baskets along my covered deck - they are really cheerful and there are always flowers in bloom.

    Hope these suggestions help,

    Doreen 

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  • Isabella4
    Isabella4 Member Posts: 2,166
    edited March 2009

    Don't know much about your climate, but could you start off hanging baskets somewhere inside at all?

    I know you can get all the 'plug' plants online, so if you could order from a warmer area, that is if you can get the plants over the border, plant up the baskets, get them going in a warm room, near natural light, or use a horticultural light to get them started, then in June they can go out...HOPEFULLY.

    I always start mine off in my conservatory, then as soon as the frosts stop out they go. I can have them growing along 4-5 weeks some years before I dare put out end of April.

    If you like silk flowers, find a wholesaler. and buy up loads, make up your baskets to match the wedding colour theme, they can go out if its piddling down with rain !!!!

    Isabella. 

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  • Sierra
    Sierra Member Posts: 1,638
    edited March 2009

    Mke..

    too bad you are not

    attending Canada Blooms

    they might have some ideas

    this week-end

    it is

    best on this

    Sierra :))

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  • nosurrender
    nosurrender Member Posts: 2,019
    edited March 2009

    MKE, I used to be a caterer and did a ton of garden weddings, including the floral arrangements, etc.

    If you need some ideas I will be happy to help you in any way.

    g

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited March 2009

    Pansies can survive a light frost, and they keep blooming until it gets really hot.  In the Southeastern US, they will bloom all winter, and are an early spring flower further north.  You should be able to get some of them and keep them blooming through early June.  They come in a wide variety of colors.

    They are available right now as blooming plants in the mid-Atlantic region.

    You might also try cut flowers, in containers buried in the ground and disguised with mulch to look like plants.

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  • mke
    mke Member Posts: 584
    edited March 2009

    Thanks for the ideas.  I don't have a conservatory, but a south facing laundry room with 10 feet of windows and some extra lights.  I'll try to get some hanging baskets going there.  Those wave petunias are pretty impressive and I have space for lots of hanging baskets.  Pansies are available here how, but I think it is just too early.  We just have a few inches of bulbs poking up. 

    I think I will also be using some fake flowers.  The wedding won't be in the garden, but rather a civil ceremony and then a reception for their friends in the garden.  I'm thinking of an open house over a period of some hours and hope not everyone shows up at the same time.  And of course hoping that it doesn't rain.

    I'll probably ask for more help when their plans are more settled. 

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  • iodine
    iodine Member Posts: 4,289
    edited March 2009

    Wonder if containers might be a better way than planting in the ground?  You can over fill large pots and place them at good places to have dramatic effect.  I've even heard of renting plants for special occasions. 

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