stargazers

The stargazer lilies have been blooming again this August and they are, as usual, stunning!!

 Stargazer lilies are the look-after-themselves perennial treat of the late summer garden just like peonies are the look-after-themselves perennial treat of the early summer garden.  After I plant them, I don't have to do anything....they just come up on their own year after year, looking awesome.  Such a smart investment for a cutting garden.

This arrangement was made to fill an order for a special wedding anniversary.  In with those gorgeous lilies, I mixed limelight hydrangea, grapevine and grapes, golden hops vine, fennel flowers and grasses, all found in the garden at this time of year.  Yet another example of "whatever grows together, goes together"!

Some stargazer bouquets that I made last weekend for a bride and her maid of honour.  They wanted something not too big and crazy yet still special and also natural and a bit wild looking too.   These have almost the same plant and flower material as the large anniversary arrangement, just a lot smaller.  I think they're beautiful and they seem to have what I think is an ideal feel for a Mayne Island wedding.

Here the lilies are mixing beautifully with pink and green flowered gladiolas, amaranth (green tassels and love lies bleeding) and polygonum (kiss me over the garden gate).  This was a special order for a honeymooning couple 2 or 3 summers ago.

When I use these lilies for arrangements, I remove the anthers from the filament of the stamens because they are full of a powdery pollen that stains like crazy when it gets on your skin or on fabric.  

On days when I'm working with these beauties and I'm too lazy to bother to get my gloves when removing those anthers, well, I end up looking like a chain smoker who rolls her own.  

oh great, now it's on my jeans....if you ever get this nasty stuff on your clothes never wet it!!  The best way to deal is to try to pick it up off the fabric with sticky tape, or try to blow it off and I've also heard that placing the stain in the sun does wonders too.  Water, it seems, sets it into the fabric and it may never come out after that.

Apparently, removing the anthers makes the flower last longer too.....

Anyway, I wish I didn't have to remove them for arrangements and bouquets because I think they are a most amazing part of the whole design of this gorgeous specimen (they look naked without them!)....but, at least we can enjoy them intact on a stroll through the garden.  Just don't get too close and brush up alongside them!

hmmmm...have I mentioned the fragrance?

out-of-this-world.

hollyhock

I have not noticed before how the centers of some hollyhocks have a perfect star embedded inside them!

It has been a very busy summer here in the garden.  Stop and smell the flowers.....or at least look at them!!...really look at them!

Hollyhocks are an edible flower and there are so many different types and colours.  Don't these look nice with the grapevines on this wedding cake?!  From a wedding I worked on last summer.

a summer wedding on Mayne Island

Most weddings on Mayne Island happen in the summertime when couples can take advantage of the beautiful natural landscape and warm sunshine to gather outdoors with their family and friends for happy times.

Michele-Lee and Clint were married at Oceanwood last July.  The ceremony circle was on a grassy clearing looking south to the ocean.  I created four flower arrangements that represented the four directions: North, South, East, West using four colours: red, purple, yellow and white.  We placed another neutral green arrangement in the center of the circle where the bride and the groom stood with the officiant.  Guests all stood around the four directions creating the circle while a special couple (parents and siblings) stood at each direction and read something they'd prepared for the event.

Michele-Lee's bouquet was mostly orange (her favourite colour) with chartreuse which worked well with all the other ceremony arrangement colours.

It was really pretty....what a beautiful day!

Behind the scenes:  the table centerpieces in process.  From the garden: sunflowers with grapevine, lady's mantle and feverfew for a sunny day at a casually stylish afternoon wedding reception.  Loved it!
The tall arrangement adorned a table with the guest book at the entrance to Oceanwood. Salal with berries (a flora ode to Mayne Island), astilbe, hydrangea and green tassels amaranth.

All boxed up and ready to be delivered.

A table centerpiece decorating the dessert table at Oceanwood.  Very Mayne Island natural.

I really dig these iron urn arrangements.  White astilbe flowers and spearmint with clematis vine, flowers and buds.

Michele-Lee, Clint and I got together the day before wedding day to map out where the four direction arrangements and ceremony circle would go.  We measured and set the direction points.  Then we wanted to create the outline of the circle to subtly and naturally lead all the guests to gather around it.  We began by setting down pebbles to join the directions and create the outline.  Clint had the idea to gather some dried grass that was lying around after being cut a few days before and he set it down along the outline of the circle.  Brilliant!  It looked great and felt beautifully natural. ....and I was thrilled to be having a bit of an Andy Goldsworthy moment too!

A couple days after the wedding M-L and C dropped in at the garden on their way to the ferry to say goodbye and thanks with a lovely card, a bottle of wine and a gift certificate for dinner at Oceanwood.  Wow!  So nice.  They made me feel very special.....I'm so lucky to get to work on weddings here on Mayne Isl. Thanks M-L and C!!

photo #1, #2 and #5  by Valeskca Photography.
If you're considering a wedding on Mayne Island feel free to contact me with any questions you have.  I'd love to help!
More photos of last summer's weddings to come.

amaranth and grapevines

Check out these pails of beautiful amaranth that Shanti at Deacon Vale Farm grew in her garden!  She harvested these for me a couple weeks ago so I could use them for some floral decor at a Mayne Island wedding.  Aren't they just the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen?!  I feel so lucky that she's growing this wonderful stuff and is willing to supply me with it!

This amazing red amaranth looked so fabulous in a silvery coloured metal urn...one big bundle of it. Too bad that I was so busy I forgot to take a photo of it!


"Hot Biscuits" is a beauty. A close-up look shows all the little seeds. Not only is amaranth stunning in floral arrangements, this plant is a healthy cereal grain food too! It's a lot of work to gather the grain but still doable.
You gotta love a plant that can be used as decor and is a nutritious food too : ) (Not only the seeds, but I've also grown it for the young leaves that are a spinach-like salad green too.)

For more info on amaranth, Saltspring Seeds has some on their website. And they sell the seeds too.  

So anyway, this amaranth was destined for a fun creative project: decoration for a wedding ceremony arbor that the groom built of driftwood found on the beaches of Mayne Island.  Grapevine, hops vine and green tassels amaranth were draped along the top of the arbor and bunches of hot biscuits were in containers on either side.....

The lovely grapevines for the arbor also came from Shanti that day.  With the back of the truck all full of amaranth and dahlias I had to coax (ummm..wrestle?) the vines into the front with me.  A fun ride home.

The flower clusters of the hops (also often called cones or strobiles) are always so pretty with the grapevine.

It was a smokin' hot afternoon and I was so grateful that the vines didn't wilt too much.  I was a bit worried.

They were cut a couple days earlier so that I could condition them for a while by submerging them a few feet in water in a rubbermaid bin.  They soaked it up and it really made a difference.  They wilt quickly if put in the sun for a few hours right after cutting.  

And isn't that heart on the ground where the couple stood so sweet?!

The long view of the ceremony site.  A sheep field overlooking Campbell Bay.  What a beautiful spot for a wedding!!

blue hydrangea

A while ago, a bride who had her wedding at the Lighthouse on Mayne Island last weekend requested a bouquet of blue hydrangea and a boutonniere for her fiance too.

So I went to my blue hydrangea bush and picked a few blooms.

And made this bouquet.

And this sweet little boutonniere too.  Lovely, all-natural, Mayne Island garden-grown wedding flowers!

wedding planning

January and February seem to be busy planning months for folks who want to have a summer wedding on Mayne Island.  I've been receiving a few requests about flowers for weddings so I thought it would be a nice idea to post some photos and a bit of info for those who're interested in finding out about having some wedding flowers from Christina's Garden.
I focus on using beautiful Mayne Island garden flowers and foliage, grown naturally, in season!

Here's a bouquet waiting for the bride in it's vase.  A June wedding: peonies, roses, cockscomb celosia, white dill, lady's mantle, grasses,  stems wrapped in pretty green satin ribbon.....and here it is in action....

We deliver the bride's and bridesmaid's bouquets in glass vases to the bridal party's starting point.  All the corsages and boutonnieres are also delivered to wherever the client would like.

Many couples choose to have their Mayne Island ceremony on the grounds of the lighthouse alongside the beautiful view of Active Pass.  To help create the spot for their ceremony, this bride chose classical style urns planted with ornamental grasses, stuffed with cut flowers.  Pink and red rose petals from my garden sprinkled on the grass.  I have some contemporary style planters and containers available for those who prefer a more modern feel.  I also have other decorative ideas and things to help define the space, and am happy to consider any other ideas, just ask.  Here's a long view.....what a beautiful day for a wedding!

We deliver all urns, containers and arrangements to the ceremony and reception locations and in this case, we picked up the urns from the lighthouse after the ceremony and took them to the reception to decorate the spot there....double duty!

This bride liked the idea of a big bundle of cosmos flowers from the garden for her bouquet.  I like that idea too.  So joyful.  This is a late summer wedding.  Groom's boutonniere: cedar, hydrangea, echinacea, hops, all from my garden....

I love doing all the table centerpieces too.  This was an outdoor wedding at a private home on Mayne Island.  A quick snapshot I took and you can hardly see the centerpieces, but you get the idea....they looked great up close in real life!  Mid and late summer has lots of dahlias and zinnias in the garden.  They make a happy, colourful table centerpiece!

The vases can be rented and returned to me after the flowers are spent or some couples choose to buy the vases and give the arrangements away to their wedding guests.  They're so fresh and will stay nice for another week after the wedding fun.

Some arrangements sitting in my outdoor workshop, waiting for delivery.  

These were going to decorate the home of the parents of the groom of this wedding.  They live here on Mayne Island.  Many couples have their reception at the Community Center and I've done some nice arrangements to decorate that space for the festivities.  Unfortunately no pictures.  It looks like I'm often too busy with the flowers on wedding days to be taking photos but I see that I really must take some more snapshots this year so I have more images to show....

If you think you might like me to create your wedding flowers for you, email me or give me a call for lots more info.  Happy planning!

wedding flowers

Today I did a few table arrangements and a bridal bouquet for a small intimate wedding at the Mayne Island Resort. It was a fun little job...sometimes the small ones are the most fun. The table arrangements were an island gardeny combination of beautiful Stargazer lilies, pink and reddy/orange roses, grasses, lady's mantle, grapevine, rosemary and lemon verbena sprigs and flowers, marigolds....

When making the bridal bouquet, I always like to hold it in the mirror to make sure that it looks the way I want it to when it's being held in hand. This bride requested a creamy white palette with touches of chartreuse and pink and she liked the idea of white roses...so this bouquet is made of white roses, pink roses, limelight hydrangea, golden hops vine, some feverfew and copper coloured grass sprigs.
A plate of grape vine, roses and hollyhock flowers waiting to be delivered to the Sunny Mayne Bakery for wedding cake decoration.