Janet Galpin and Oliver Patterson1/1/04 11:00

I have a son getting married at the beginning of June and have been
wondering whether I have time to grow anything suitable for a table
decorations.
He and his partner are very happy with something quite cottagey and
simple. Scented would be good: they had wondered about lavender - but
lack of time to grow it would be a problem.
If not scented, then I guess annuals are likely to be the only
possibilities. I haven't got much experience with annuals so any
suggestions would be really gratefully received.

Janet G


One idea: when Ray and I got married in June 2000 we hit the same dilemma.
It was more of a luncheon party than a wedding reception, so we wanted
'relaxed'.
In the middle of the tables we had terracotta plant pots and saucers filled
with his Nemesia Bluebird. You could have pots of Freesias, perhaps or
Dianthus?
As place name settings we had very small pots (just above plug size) with
e.g. that Nemesia or a Million Bells and a plant label with the name of the
person and a description of them as if they were a plant. For example, my
mother who is hat mad and never leaves the house without wearing one, was
described as "J....H....mother stock of the bridal plant: inclined to be
rampant in millinery departments": a friend who plays a LOT of golf was
described as "thrives in the rough" etc.
It caused a lot of laughter and everyone took their own 'horticultural
label' and plant home with them. It was a great deal of fun, thinking them
all up, too!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the 'x' to email me)