Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

We are going to have to institute a Wedding Planner Department for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants. Please read these recent Mr. Smarty Plants answers to help you get an idea of what is involved:

Flowers for Fall wedding

Flowers for October wedding

Flowers for September wedding in Pennsylvania

Now, here's the thing. You will notice in all our answers (and there are a total of 40 on this subject in our Answered Questions) discuss the length of time you must plant flowers in advance in order to have them blooming on the wedding day. It is usually at least 6 months in advance and, in the case of perennials, a year and a half. Go to the answer for Pennsylvania, and click on each plant link to find out when the plant should be planted and how, and you will soon realize that you would have had to plant them at least a year and a half ago. As an example of what you will find out when you read our webpage on each plant:

Achillea millefolium (Common yarrow) - blooms April to September, perennial, seeds mature (and are ready to plant) in early Fall.

Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue mistflower) - blooms July to November, perennial, propagate by root division or sow seeds in late Fall.

Lobelia siphilitica (Great blue lobelia) - perennial, blooms July to October, divide clumps in Spring, seeds are mature to sow in mid September to October.