The Bridal Flowers 1 - The certainty of uncertainty

..... Certainty is ridiculous (Voltaire)

There are certainties in gardening: every year the circle turns, the seasons come and go and there will be gardening somewhere, by someone; this feels certain.

There are also uncertainties: will it be a cold or mild winter? A long or short winter?  Will it rain too much or too little? Will the summer be hot or not?  There is so much that can happen and some of it will.
For people like me who garden for pleasure, there can be some joy in the uncertainty. Yet even so some days it would be lovely to be able to predict.  This year I am growing the wedding flowers for my daughter's wedding, you will hear more of this (maybe too much) but it adds in a whole level of pressure about performance and blooms that usually I let wash over me.   Of course nature refuses to deliver such certainty.  It does not want that element of predictableness in our lives and in reality that in my view that still is the glory of nature.  It is truly wild and even in our controlled gardens it laughs in the face of our efforts to control it.

So I shall more write of my progress this year when for once I need to produce flowers for a set date.  I will get a glimmer of what it is like to need to do this day in, day out (but without my livelihood depending on it).  I have bought a good book to on growing wedding flowers to give me some advice and I am hoping to go on a workshop about growing wedding flowers as well.  Flower seeds and plant orders have been made and the veg borders are being turned over almost completely to flower production.

Wish me luck!

The Bridal Flowers 2

The Bridal Flowers 3

The Bridal Flowers 4

The Bridal Flowers 5

Comments

  1. this will be fascinating to see. Good luck

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  2. This will be terrifying. Good luck.

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    1. I am anxious - and I will be a nervous wreck as the day approaches.....

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  3. Good luck, I'm going to watch with fascination!

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  4. Dear Alison
    Someone on Gardeners' Question Time a few weeks ago was also growing flowers for her daughter's wedding. The panel suggested annuals and perennials, but also to have a back-up plan and use bought flowers as well if necessary, just to make sure the pressure of our unpredictable weather doesn't become too much!
    Good luck - what a lovely thing to do.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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  5. Hi Alison I am sure you will do brilliantly but if all else fails you could always get a bucket of British Flowers from Georgie at Common Farm , I resorted to that a couple of years ago when mine for a party didn't grow in time ..

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    1. Hi Lorraine - I might need Georgie on speed dial! :)

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  6. Just did a mental count and I know 5 people who grew flowers for a wedding (not the same one). They all developed mad panic attacks, planned all sorts of orders "in case" and grew about 10 times the flowers actually needed. In all 5 cases there were jokes about cutting the number of guests so there was enough flower space in the church and at the reception! You'll do fine. Relax and enjoy the experience.

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    1. Thankfully no church to worry about and it's going to be a pretty laid back do - but yes, expect panic attacks and tantrums :))

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  7. Kathy Purdy at Cold Climate Gardening recently posted about the pros and cons of growing flowers for her daughter's wedding. You may find some pointers there.

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  8. Good luck Alison - will look forward to you're updates. I'm sure you'll do a great job. I love growing fleurs on my allotment - devoured Georgie's book - such good advice.

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    1. thanks - the book is really good isn't it? So practical and beautiful written/photographed.

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