Oh my, Allison I am sorry! I wondered how your DD2 became engaged and married so fast :-( I should have known you would at least have posted a dress issue or something on the conversations board with all that wedding talk! Very sorry for that misunderstanding. But initially the posts that crossed over to houzz were not dated, so I had no idea the thread was four years old. Now I see they are dated, although in the faintest possible ink color. (Houzz must have mostly 20 and 30 something users with better eyesight.) At any rate, the groom may not have been a keeper but the flowers were lovely!

It is a lovely idea, to have home grown roses used in your daughter's wedding. Not to be discouraging, but I would hesitate to grow my own, just in case. You are at the mercy of weather, insects, disease, etc and it is hard to predict if you will have enough of them. You will need more bushes than you think, and growing them in pots, they may not be as vigorous as they would in the ground. If I were you, I would grow one type that you love, and purchase the rest. I am planning on doing the flower arrangements for my son's reception, its a small wedding so I think its manageable. Even so, I plan to buy roses in bulk online. I've had too many roses fall victim to aphids, japanese beetles, drought, too much rain, cane borers, black spot, and of course the many deer who find my rosebuds to be a culinary delight.

So, the wire birds didn't live up to my expectations. The artist is very talented, but I didn't like the model she was working for them. Here's what she came up with : It really did not resemble the sketch that she had made and felt too chunky for the fine detail of the cake. So I'm going to pass. That was an option all along with her. instead, I am going with a gum paste peony on top. The pastry chef/artist is incredibly skilled in using fondant and has made lots of flowers. This is the look I'm going for. She can do it.All in favor?

It is a beautiful fall day and I just finished planting and transplanting the last of the spinach and winter greens. Yesterday I got in the last of the garlic; if it all makes I will be gifting half of it. I was not going to grow softneck this year but as usual found a spot for it. The dahlias are looking tired and have some have powdery mildew, but I just cant make myself chop them down yet. Maybe a frost will make up my mind. Meanwhile, yesteday we cut all of these beauties!