Re: Wedding plans

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If the wedding is THIS June, though, newly planted honeysuckle might not have enough time to get established and take over.  Annuals are good for parties such as this because you can plant them very intensively, giving the yard/garden that lush look that you want, and then go back and rip them out afterwards without remorse.  With perennials, if you plant enough plants so that they have the arbor or beds lush and full by early June, you'll need to go back and remove at least every other plant.  Best to think in terms of a flower show display: a short-term, temporary arrangement.

 

Nancy, another device I've used at several backyard parties is to get inexpensive baskets or other containers, cram them full of your flowering annual plants, dirt and all, and then use them as centerpieces or anywhere else that you want to tie into the rest of the yard.  To help match your overall garden theme, small corresponding perennial plants -- in flower, of course -- can be combined with the annuals in the containers.  These flower-filled containers also make good door prizes: send them home with people for planting in their own yards.

 

Usually I'm asked to help with these things by non-gardening friends -- who've seen too many magazine articles featuring outdoor parties -- about a month before the event.  Thank goodness for farmers' markets!  ;-)

 

Dean Sliger

Warren, Michigan, USA

Zone 6B