How long spring bulb blooms last in middle TN depends a whole lot on the weather that spring. If it doesn't get too hot too fast, I've seen the latest blooming narcissus (the poeticus types like Actaea and the heirloom N. medioluteus, the Twin Sisters Narcissus) blooming in early to mid May. I'd try Dutch Iris. These are the ones florists use as cut flowers, and they may be in bloom at that time (again, depends on the weather). Other iris that aren't bulbs, such as Siberian Iris and Louisiana Iris, would be in bloom then, too. And if you can find it, plant some Phlox maculata 'Miss Lingard'. One of the common names of this plant is Wedding Phlox because up north it blooms in June. Here it blooms in May. It's snow white and sweetly fragrant. Me, I'd not count on tulips except ones from the florist. One hot day and garden tulips are blown. If you haven't set the wedding date yet and using spring flowers you cut is important to you, I suggest thinking about setting the date for as early in May as you can. Late May is kind of a down time for bloom, in between the spring stuff and the early summer stuff. You'll have quite a bit more to choose from early in the month. Welcome to TN and the Nashville area. It's a beautiful place to live and garden! Marty

We are doing a home office remodel and plan on keeping the 4' flourescent fixture that currently holds 4-40watt daylight bulbs. I have painted a dark neutral color and there is one window. The room is 12'x13'. We plan to add task lights at each of the two desk areas but what kind of bulbs can I put in the overhead flourescent for the brightest light.

You do not want to use daylight white bulbs. Daylight bulbs do give truer colors, with higher CRI (color rendering index), but they are not flattering to skin color. The light is a little too "blue", with not enough emphasis on reds. For fluorescent, look for a bulb with a color temperature between 2700K and 3500K. The lower end will give better light for skin tones. The higher temperatures will give you a more "white" light, but tend to make skin look a little cold. If no color temperature is listed, look for a warm light bulb, with a CRI above 80. For incandescent bulbs, I like to use GE Reveal bulbs. Soft Whites are probably fine as well, and less expensive.

If appearance is the primary goal and it is not on a lot, I think that I'd stick with halogen for the time being. Another question is, are you using an electronic camera or software that will allow you to do color correction? It is no substitute for a good CRI, but if the temperature is the only problem, that might fix it.