Herbal Bouquets

 

Herbal bouquets provide wonderful scent, interesting texture, and even special significance in the Language of Flowers. For a wedding or other special occasion, fresh herbs such as sage, mint, lavender, or rosemary can be grown, purchased through local vendors, or ordered from a florist.

A silver tussle-mussie holder fitted with a damp paper towel is a nice accessory for this bouquet of tiny herbs such as sweet woodruff, lemon thyme, lily of the valley, and mint.

Make a wedding bouquet with fragrance and special meaning in the language of flowers.  This sheaf style bouquet is especially fitting for an herbal wedding. Green wheat forms the basis, symbolizing fertility and prosperity. Lavender adds its lovely fragrance and wishes for luck, devotion, and happiness. Roses, are of course, for love, beauty, and innocence.

Herbal bouquets can be created in several classic shapes. Since many herbs are rather fragile, a bouquet holder fitted with floral foam provides a source of water for herbs and flowers and is highly recommended. A round bouquet can be large or small, made with or without a bouquet holder. When no holder is used the bouquet is referred to as a clutch bouquet, or “hand-tied”.

Almost any herb can be used in a round bouquet. Try lavender, yarrow, feverfew, rosemary, chive blossoms, sage, lady’s mantle, lemon balm, hyssop, oregano blossoms, mint, scented geranium, veronica, lily of the valley, and dill.

Small round shapes are called posies or tussie-mussies. A Victorian tussie-mussie holder, often silver, is a nice accessory. Shorter-stemmed flowers such as violets, miniature roses, sweet woodruff, and clove pinks would be good choices for a tussie-mussie.

The cascade bouquet begins as a rounded form, with longer material allowed to dangle down the front. Ivy, salal, myrtle, eucalyptus, larkspur, nepeta (catmint), bridal wreath — any long-stemmed herb or flower — can be used to form the tail of the bouquet. Ribbons are often added, left long or tied in love knots, to fill in the cascade.

Most herbs are easy to grow and will bloom the first year from gallon-size plants purchased in the spring. Monarda, lady’s mantle, baptisia, scented geraniums, and oregano are examples of herbs with useful foliage and pretty flowers as well.