Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

We will see what we can find in our Native Plant Database, but first, will you take a little advice from an experienced Mother of the Bride?  We had a daughter's wedding in our garden, and everybody just about worked themselves to death making that garden perfect-planting, trimming, watering and so forth. But we arranged with a professional florist to bring the flowers for bouquets and corsages to the house, add flowers to the bride's veil, and stay to make sure everything went well. We were never so glad to see anyone in our lives. Because she could bring in non-native flowers, which were flown in under refrigeration, she could select the colors the bride wanted, and have them fresh and properly trimmed. Even in Pennsylvania, most wildflowers will have bloomed earlier than June or July, and purple flowers, in particular, are difficult to find under any circumstances.

Another problem with planning on wildflowers is that a sudden hard rain, or a protracted drought, or even insects could knock down and ruin the blooms you wanted to use. Frankly, many wildflowers don't hold up well as cut flowers.  You don't need that kind of stress on your wedding day, trust us. 

However, we aim to please, so let's take a look at wildflowers that are gold or purple, blooming in June or July in the Washington County area of southwest Pennsylvania, on the border with Ohio. These will need to be annuals, as perennials don't ordinarily bloom until the second spring. We came up with 5 yellows and 1 blue/purple. You will need to follow each plant link to our webpage on that plant to learn how big it gets, what kind of environment it grows in (sun, shade, soil), and propagation to see if it's worth the effort for you.

Gold and purple flowers for a wedding in Pennsylvania in June or July:

Bidens connata (purplestem beggarticks) - blooms yellow July and August

Campanulastrum americanum (American bellflower) - blue, purple June to August

Coreopsis tinctoria (golden tickseed) - yellow April to June

Eschscholzia californica (California poppy) - orange, yellow February to October

Helianthus annuus (common sunflower) - yellow July to October

Rudbeckia hirta (blackeyed Susan) - yellow June to October

From our Native Plant Image Gallery:

Bidens connata

Campanulastrum americanum

Coreopsis tinctoria

Eschscholzia californica

Helianthus annuus

Rudbeckia hirta