Wedding flowers for September

Hello there, I am planning on getting married this September and would like to grow my own flowers particularly the table flowers and possibly my bouqet. I have a flower bed which is 4 foot by 10 foot which I need to start planning in. Has anyone got any ideas on suitable flowers to grow now for early september? I really prefer cottage flowers. Many thanks.

If I was doing this I would go for dahlias as they are much easier to control timewise. I would also look at Euphorbia as a foliage plant.

I read this article last week you may find it useful.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/18/alys-fowler-annuals-august-wedding

Pricey wrote (see)

Hello there, I am planning on getting married this September and would like to grow my own flowers particularly the table flowers and possibly my bouqet. I have a flower bed which is 4 foot by 10 foot which I need to start planning in. Has anyone got any ideas on suitable flowers to grow now for early september? I really prefer cottage flowers. Many thanks.

How much experience have you got in gardening as this is such an important occasion?

You may have left it a bit late for sowing and would need to buy in plugs now-any ideas on colours?

Thank you Kate1123 that article is really useful. I am currently growing rudbeckias and mini sunflowers at present from seed - which it mentions.

I love dahlias so I will definately look into growing those too.

Sotongeoff I am an advanced beginner really. I would love it to be very colourful but was thinking maybe oranges and yellows would be suitable for the month. Have you got any idea of plugs to grow. Thank you for your ideas.

I think Sarah Raven has Dahlias on sale this weekend.

Chrysanthemums is a possibility,dahlias definitely,sweet peas.

hello, I am getting married late September so am delighted that you have started this forum as I had the same thoughts of growing my own for table flowers and the bouquet. My garden has a 'cottage' garden feel to it.  

I see that you are thinking along the lines of oranges and yellows.

I  am planning more for pinks (and purples). I have started growing sweetpeas in a variety of pinks and white but am not sure if they will still be flowering then. I also have some lavendar, and gardens world rather conveniently have an offer in this months magazine for 48 pots. Again, im not sure if they will still be flowering in September.  

Does anyone have any ideas for pinky flowers to start growing (either from seed or from plugs).

thanks

Carrie

Dahlias come in a wide range of colours, and you'll certainly find some in the pink/red/purple spectrum. Doubt whether sweet peas would still be flowering in abundance, and lavender might wellbee over too.

Cosmos is long flowering, and a good cut flower, easy from seed, comes in white and pink. I'm sure there will be other suggestions.

 How about Gladioli bulbs?

Not sure what sort of arrangements you're going for Carrie, but you could try some night scented stock or maybe the other faster growing types.

The night scented one has a trailing habit, the flowers and the scent come out in the evenings

figrat - thank you, i have some pink Cosmos seeds so will get them planting.

Mattbeer87 - i have just looked up Gladioli - fantastic colours thank you for the suggestion

Holie hock - great idea to have night scented stock for the evening. We are having a marquee so I think this would work well (although not as table decorations).

I guess I havent quite worked out the sort of arrangements im going for - i cant decide between jam-jars of informal flowers on the tables, or something a little more formal. As for my bouquet and bridesmades flowers, my  mum is quite keen to 'have a go'  but im not sure what flowers to include or whether I should leave to the professionals.

As long as you keep picking the sweet peas they may just be okay, as we've had such a late start.

Cosmos is definitely easy & late flowering. 

Asters can be produce pretty bunches & flower late. 

A lot of my roses are still flowering in September & beyond. 

I can't remember how late alliums go, they look so impressive, although do have that garlic aroma you may not want! 

Don't forget the foliage, I made an enormous bouquet last week & was so glad of my eucalyptus. 

i had forgotten about foliage - thank you for the reminder.

I had a look on the RHS website and they say that there are 4 roses that should bloom in September - two of which I liked the look of - Rosa Stanwell Perpetual and Rosa Felicia.

We live in Dorset so im hoping that with such a late start things will be delayed going over at the end of the summer (im hoping that is not wishful thinking!)

Good idea for table arrangements is to use a terracotta flower pot lined with cellophane. Let the cellophane come up above the rim and use a small block of foam. Lavender should still be flowering or if not pick earlier and dry. Cerinthe is also a useful filler. Michaelmas daisies are available in a range iof colours (not red or orange!). When I started flower arranging in the 60's I was told that shrubs and foliage should be grown as flowers were usually cheap in markets!

Loraine, thank you for your ideas about lining pots with cellophane. There is more to this 'simple flower arrangements' than I thought

Go onto Sarah Raven's web site. If you subscribe to GW you can get 10% discount. There are demos of various arrangemnts and some lovely ideas for colour schemes. There is also a site called blooming green, 2 girls who were on a programme on Channel 4, they do wedding flowers and there will be ideas of what is available.