flowers

I promised that I was going to post the highlights of the trip to Michigan back in June, buuuuuuut I’ve been a bit of a slacker. I mean, I’ve had stuff on my plate this summer, but not enough to really excuse it. This week, we got a package which reminded me of that promise, so here is a post about one of my favorite finds near Traverse City, MI.

It was not on my list of things to see, but we drove passed it a couple times and I KNEW I had to make a stop at some point during our visit. The irises were in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous!

It was very cloudy the morning we decided to stop. I was sad, because the colors were so vibrant in the sunlight. We were not the only ones with the idea to stop, though. A group of ladies were setting up chairs and easels to paint the beautiful colors of the flowers. The sun was trying its best to make an appearance, and did in spots.

There are so many kinds of irises with so many creative names. We put in an order for rhizomes to be mailed out to us once they were ready. We ordered 5 different types: Seakist, Immortality, Forty Pinochle, Wabash, and Neutron Dance. They finally came in the mail after I had almost forgotten about them!

If you are ever in the area, you should definitely stop by! Peak season would be late May-early June. You can pick out which rhizomes you like and they will be delivered to you the end of October/early September. They come bare root (as you can see), so there’s no worry about invasive species making their way into your community. It even includes a Certificate of Quarantine Compliance! If you’re a “native” junky like me, you will love that they take this extra precaution. Irises are beautiful but not worth the spread of Japanese beetle or plant disease. I am very excited to see what they look like next Spring. The goal is to plant them in the garden bed on the side of the house, using old tire halves to make raised beds for other annuals. I’m so pumped!

Iris Farm in Traverse City

5385 E Traverse Hwy
Traverse City, Michigan 49684
(231) 947-9040

on Pure Michigan Website

This week, I had my official meeting with the florist about the flowers for our wedding. I love flowers so much! When I was in Japan, there were so many new kinds of flowers that I didn’t know that I was taking photos all over the place of them, earning myself the nickname of “hana-otaku” or “flower nerd.” I also love the meanings behind flowers. For this reason, I do not like the idea of having lilies as wedding flowers (completely personal preference. I think they’re lovely flowers, I just don’t want them in my wedding flowers), since they have been traditionally funeral flowers. I’m allergic to mums, don’t like orchids (in wedding flowers), and don’t want daisies or roses. Where in the world does that leave me!?

Our colors are red and yellow, which you can see together on my Pinterest board. I would have thought this color combo would be easy to find examples of, but it’s not really. I like the idea of having a uniquely colored wedding, but it makes the prep work a little tough. I’m glad to have another 40 weeks to get this all together.

The primary flowers are sunflowers! I absolutely looove sunflowers. I even have a Pinterest board completely devoted to sunflowers. (I also have one for elephants, if you’re interested.) The great thing about sunflowers is that they’ve increasingly been dyed a lovely red color, so this works will for my plan.

sunflowers – pure and lofty thoughts

I just needed a good red flower to complement the yellow suns. The first one that came to mind was the lovely red poppy.

poppies – pleasure

There were some that grew as wild flowers in Japan and I loved how light the flower is, but how deep the color is. Unfortunately when I spoke with the florist the first time, she said that poppies are hard to get in June. So, we had to come up with an alternate. Enter the ranunculus.

ranunculus – I am dazzled by your charms

Making its debut here in a gorgeous red and yellow (hmm…can anyone say, perfect?!) I was just looking up the meaning for ranunculus, and you’ll see above that it means, “I am dazzled by your charms.” There was also a funny little story that accompanied this:

Legend has it that the mythological Coyote was tossing his eyes up in the air and catching them when Eagle snatched them. Unable to see, Coyote created eyes from the ranunculus/buttercup.

…

Interesting, huh? And notice that the buttercup is part of the ranunculus family? I love buttercups and have always wanted them in my wedding bouquet.

buttercups – riches

*sigh*

We also thought about including anemone, which looks quite a bit like poppies. Oh, and don’t worry, I am having fake flowers for the reception, so I’m sure I can get poppies in there somehow.

anemone – unfading love

Last but not least, woman cannot live on red and yellow flowers alone. I love the idea of having white accents in there too. There was one flower that the florist mentioned, but I can’t remember its name. I’ll try and look it up for you. But also, jonquil works really well, especially with a yellow center. Also known as a daffodil or narcissus and called “suisen” in Japanese, this flower has a special place in my heart. The woman who I began to call my Japanese Mother loved these flowers so much, especially since they are an early indicator of Spring coming, much like the crocuses here in the states. That reminds me, I’ll need to plant those in the garden beds. 🙂 The yellow ones.

jonquil – return my affection

There you are, the flowers…or the gist of them. This week, we also went and scoped out wedding bands. Rather, a wedding band for Matt. I’ll post more about this later. No purchases were made as yet.

We perused the kitchen section of Target a bit too, and tagged some pics of what we really liked. More to come on that in the future too. Thanks for stopping by!

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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!