Getting Ready to Go To A Wedding!

Bright flowers abound this weekend!  We have the pinkest pink roses and gerbera daisies, as well as a beautiful apricot colored celosia and orange-kissed roses!  These beauties have been "hydrating" themselves for a few days, preparing for their starring roles in one of this Saturday's weddings!

5th Annual Ladies Night Howl at the Moon

When:  Friday Evening.  October 4th.  6-9 pm
Dancing with the Stargazers!
Come join the twilight party at Waukesha Floral!

Gather your "best buds" and celebrate an evening of howling good food, fabulous dancing and fun shopping!

Casa di Danza, specializing in the instruction of ballroom and Latin dancing, will be lighting up our greenhouse stage with fabulous dance!  Enjoy the music, colors and moves of our local professionals as they dance it up in the moonlight.  See how the Waukesha Floral designers interpret and enhance the dance with flowers!  This will be a fun-filled show!

Our partners, Tammy Ehrett, Mary Kay Sales Director, will share beauty tips with you.  Chair massages will once again be offered by the ladies of Wisconsin Wellness Clinic, and enjoy chocolate samples from Indulgence Chocolatiers.  Vicki from Kavita Scarves will be demonstrating how to wear the perfect scarf for you!

Please RSVP to howl with us!  Call us at 262-542-8152, email jane@waukeshafloral.com or stop in to
register!

More Succulent Wedding Flower Pictures

Beautiful bride!

 We love this picture of our bride with our succulent-filled bouquet!  Her pretty flowers also featured orchids, freesia, seeded eucalyptus and leucadendron.  Here are more pictures from her reception which had three table looks - cylinder vases with submerged flowers, greenery and floating candles; low arrangements of various shades of green (see if you can spot the artichokes) and tall arrangements on clear glass pilsner vases.  Splits of champagne in green bottles and butter pats on lemon leaves carried the green them across all the tables nicely!

Cylinder vases with green flowers and
floating candles

Low table arrangements with a mix of succulents, orchids,
eucalyptus and artichokes

The head table arrangement with its cascading hindu rope,
grasses, bells of Ireland, orchids, eucalyptus and more

Tall arrangements with a palette of greens
of every shade

Succulent Boutonniere

I wanted to post this picture of a pretty boutonniere made at Waukesha Floral today.  Everything in this boutonniere is natural; the miniature succulent was growing in our greenhouse, the stephanotis florets, the bear grass and the seeded eucalyptus.  Succulents and this gray/green color is currently "on-trend".

This will be a nice addition to a black tuxedo this evening!  

Glassware Makes Arrangements Soar

Roses, Dendrobium Orchids and Pendulous
Greenery Rest atop a Sculpted Vase

Tall Wine Style Glasses are Filled with
Greenery, Purple Dendrobium
Florets, and Accented with Crystal
Garlands

Waukesha Floral was recently asked by our friends at Lyle Husar Jewelry to design some arrangements for their bridal open house.  We chose to use tall glassware to add floral beauty to their lovely store, while not obscuring the view of the beautiful diamonds in the cases the flowers were upon.  Using tall stemware is a great idea for adding flowers but not eliminating the view across the table, or the view under the flowers.  When we use this style, we always need to make sure the view of the flowers from below is as beautiful as the view from the side or above.

If you are interested in tall glassware, Waukesha Floral has many styles for rent or purchase!

Sympathy Flowers on a Large Scale

 Two days ago, our designer Denise was asked to create some sympathy tribute arrangements that were complementary but not exactly the same.  I thought both arrangements she made are beautiful and perfect for a large church like St. William's Catholic Church in Waukesha.  Each is a lovely representation of the condolences of the sender and a stately tribute to the deceased.

Large arrangements like these are also suitable for events like weddings, grand openings, commencements and anywhere flowers can help enhance the surroundings.

Beautiful designs, Denise!

The Autumn Season is Almost Here!

Bouquet of red and orange roses,
hypericum berries, miniature callas
and statice

September 1 (or right after Labor Day) is often thought of as the beginning of a new Fall season.  We look forward to all the beautiful flowers of Fall, the wedding flowers we are designing, the hardy garden mums which are already for sale here, the new candle scents and many great gifts with those earthy colors in our shop.   Even though the temperature today is scorching, we invite you in to our cool shop to see what's new for the upcoming season.

And if you're in town for the big birthday celebration, we're just a nice Harley ride from Milwaukee!

Hardy Chrysanthemum Care

What makes a chrysanthemum "hardy"?  There are both hardy mums and florist mums.  The hardy mums are grown to over-winter better in areas like ours.  They send out "stolons", which are the side buds that make for a full, round plant with smaller flowers that are much more profuse than the florist mums.  Popular cultivars are both the "cushion" mum (which is like the yellow mum pictured) and the daisy mum (with its colored center and smaller rows of petals.

Plant hardy mums outside as soon as you can, so they establish roots quickly.  The soil should be well drained, and enriched with compost.  Do provide water if the season is very dry.  Mums prefer at least 4 hours of direct sunshine a day to bloom properly. The plants are considered "photoperiodic", meaning that they bloom in fall because of the shorter days and longer nights.  In the spring, it's best to "pinch back" the buds about an inch at Memorial Day and 4th of July, in order to get the proper bloom time.  After blooming, mums benefit from a layer of mulch, or at least do not cut back the old stems to provide some winter protection.  Uncover in the springtime.  And don't forget, mums will take a light frost but not a hard one.  You may need to get the sheets and towels out and do some night-time covering!

Plant your mums now for new green growth and enjoy the flowers as they open.  When the mums are done, add a pumpkin or gourds under the leaves of the plant for additional fall interest.

The Last Vacation Photos

Bee Balm... It Grows in Wisconsin too!

 My last set of pictures from vacation are these!  So many beautiful plants, including what looks like rhubarb on steroids show below.  The Gunnera manicata is also known as "The Fairy Umbrella" plant.  It has HUGE leaves which shade the very large flower spikes that grow beneath it.  It apparently is the invasive plant of Ireland and not desirable (but still impressive).

Bees LOVE the spikes of this vertical bloomer.

Gunnera manicata - The dandelion of Ireland!

More Flowers!

Beautiful Autumn-Colored Blooms
(Not Fall Trees, Just Flower Spikes in this Picture!)

 More pictures from Blarney Castle....

The Sturdy Thistle-Like Flower

Monkshood

Pretty Sedum on a Wine-Colored Stalk

Delightful Dahlia

More Pictures (Almost Done!)

Gorgeous Hanging Basket!

A Bee's Banquet in a Basket!

 Here are some pictures from Blarney Castle.  Indeed, the blarney stone was kissed, but I found more joy in the beautiful plants and flowers on the manicured grounds!

I also found it interesting that visitors were signing their names in the sooty mold on a small scheffelera tree!

How Old and Magnificent!

The Largest Japanese Maple Tree I've Seen!

Sooty Mold Grafitti

Vacation Photos Continued

Vivid Pink Hydrangea!

 I bring you more vacation photos!  I was amazed at the blue and pink hydrangeas blooming profusely in Ireland!  Surely 'tis the peat and acidic nature of the soil there that brings on such riotous colors.

Late July was just past the season for wild heather, but I did see some blooming in the upper elevations.

Who Doesn't Like A Secret Garden Path?

Wild Heather

And More Vacation Pictures!

There is Beauty in A Tiny Snail....

Thee is Beauty in a Grand Vista!

Beautiful Creeping Groundcover

More Vacation Pictures

Purple Monkshood

 I hope you are not bored by these vacation pictures.  I love to look at other people's vacation pictures, especially if the topic is anything horticulture-related!

Perhaps some of the travelers on the CIE Liesurely Ireland Tour will also take a peak at my pictures and remember our jolly holiday!

Norfolk Pine Growing Outdoors - Lush!

Wild Fuchsia Grows Rampant in Ireland!

More Vacation Pictures

Cascades of Flowers on Dublin's
Street Corners

 Just because I like to look at other people's vacation pictures!  Here are some flower pictures for you.

While in Dublin, we saw a lot of the same flowers we have here.  I think the amount of rain and the moderate temperatures really help the flowers flourish.

White Cosmos

Pink Cosmos

The 3-Leaf Clover is on Every Dublin
Light Post

Ireland!

Marty, with Picture-Taking Donkey

 The answer to yesterday's post, where was I on vacation?  The answer is Ireland! Marty and I traveled to the land of lots of rain and plenty of beautiful green vistas.  I was surprised to find many plants blooming there that are also blooming in Wisconsin, but find many near-tropical plants too.  I was surprised to learn that the average high temperature in December and January is 45 degrees F..  Therefore, many palms, the fuchsia and what are considered annual plants here are actually perennial plants in Ireland.

This Stately Manor House is Beautiful,
But Would Benefit from Container Gardens!

Vacation Posy Pictures

It's a beauty!  I'm unsure of the name!

Tritoma, Red Hot Poker, Torch Lily

Your blogger was recently on vacation and snapped these gorgeous pictures.   Any guesses as to where in the world I was? Many of the flowers and plants were similar to Wisconsin, and yet they grew larger.  There were also many plants we cannot grow, a few palms, fuchsia (as a perennial), and large holly trees.  Any guesses?

Marigolds/Formal Gardens

Beautiful Greenhouse Conservatory

Sparkling Orchid

Blue-dyed orchids are sometimes enhanced for special occasion corsages and bouquets using rhinestones and glitter.

Here is a beautiful orchid that is real and comes naturally in white with the pink shade.  Blue dye is added to the water and when the flower has soaked it up, an aqua tint is seen throughout.

Special glues, spray glitters and extra-careful handling will make these last!  If you are looking for these, we recommend you special-order ahead of time.