Guest Post - Grow Your Own Spring Bouquet

With a huge range of exquisite and fragrant flowers available, growing your own spring wedding bouquet is easier than you think.

Your floral matron of honour should be the reliable, trustworthy and ever colourful spring bulbs.  With incredible variety, their gorgeous flowers add fragrance, colour and form to any arrangement.  Extremely easy to grow in pots they are so low maintenance even the novice gardener can rely on them to turn up and dazzle on the day.  Bulbs thrive in well-drained soil so mix your compost with plenty of garden grit to create the perfect growing conditions.

They have specific and limited flowering periods. To be sure of guaranteed blooms check flowering times on the back of the packet and if you are using a variety of blubs make sure their flowering times match.  If it’s getting close to the big day and your bulbs don’t seem to be flowering bring the pots indoors to encourage them to burst into bud.

Daffodils should be planted in October and tulips a little later in November. So now is the perfect time to check out and buy the ones you want.

Here are my best bulb picks: 

Snowdrops 
These graceful, delicate snow white blooms bob at the end of slender green stems. They bring a lightness and magical quality to your bouquet. Try them in jam jars to make a stunning yet simple table decoration.

Daffodil Tête-à-Tête
A diminutive flower that stands less than 10 inches tall but provides as much fragrance as its larger relatives. Its bright yellow blooms glow with happiness and loudly shout “celebration” from their tiny little trumpets. 

Perfect Lady Daffodils
For a taller more robust daffodil, what better than the aptly named ‘Perfect Lady’. It has white trumpets with sumptuous soft pink centres.

Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley has tiny white bell shaped flowers and a fragrance that fills a room in seconds. As an added bonus they have shapely green leaves that highlight the flowers perfectly.

Tulips 
Finally, who could forget the absolute queen of the spring bouquet, the tulip. Available in a huge range of colours from white right through to the deepest darkest blue, whatever colour theme you decide on there is a tulip to suit you.

The bridesmaids of your bouquet can be found in the large number of plants that offer stunning spring blooms.

Hellebores, otherwise known as the Christmas Rose, are my favourite. With a long flowering season their pastel colours and subtle patterns are a wedding decoration essential. Grow them in rich, well-drained soil in dappled shade.  Garden centre shelves will be packed with mature plants from the early part of the year.  Grab them quickly for the greatest choice and grow them on, ready for the day.

Forget-Me-Nots found in most gardens provide a froth of baby blue flowers that look stunning in tea cups as table decorations and place settings.

No wedding or bouquet is complete without a page boy to liven things up.  Add interest to your decorations by foraging hazel and willow sticks from family and friend’s gardens. Particularly look out for the twisted hazel, Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’, which has quirky corkscrew branches. Pine cones and teasel seed heads are an unusual and original touch. Use them as found or paint them up.  

I can think of nothing more rewarding than to grow your own wedding flowers. With a little planning and dedication, you could be walking down the aisle with a home grown bouquet and wowing your guests with stunning table decorations and place settings.  

Happy growing and huge congratulations from me for your special day.  

This inspiring blog was a guest post by Rachel Whittaker of Green Goddess Garden Design (@nottsgardener on Facebook).  Rachel is, in her words, potty about gardening and loves sharing her passions and expertise.  She is based in Nottingham and writes gardening columns for a number of local Nottingham magazines. 

I hope you enjoyed it, such a lovely idea, definitely food for thought if your deposit for your florist is due soon!  I got married in April so this would have been perfect for me round about this time last year!  I particularly love Lily of the Valley, although I’m not sure I would have had enough room on my little balcony to grow it!

Finish off your uniquely personal bouquet with a personal finishing touch by wrapping your stems with some vintage lace or ribbon – perhaps a small cutting of lace from your mum's or granny’s wedding dress as your perfect combination of something old and something new.

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