I'm back. Back from Sioux Falls, where my nephew got married, and back on posting. I suddenly find myself with some time due to the government shutdown, even though I am excepted from full furlough and have been doing a lot of watering.
Erik and Heather had a beautiful wedding, and she made a wonderful choice of sunflowers as her theme flower. I had never worked with them before, and I became a fan. The internet allowed me to direct ship hundreds to Sioux Falls, and I flew in early to condition them and start work. I was concerned about two things from the start. I didn't find a foliage that seemed right, so I had to forage for that. Some asparagus in a ditch near Hurley, SD that had been mowed a few weeks ago and grown again in clean green wispiness solved that problem. The other problem was a line material. Sunflowers aren't linear flowers, since there is one round head per stem.
I found acres of Maximilian sunflowers, Helianthus maximiliani, growing near Interstate 29 near Worthing, SD. I went early the next morning to request permission to pick, which I was granted, and I harvested about 50 stems for the wedding. They were growing four to 12 feet tall, and it was amazing to stand in the field of golden yellow, with the prairie wind setting everything in motion. The lovely curving leaves of this plant also helped to solve my foliage quandary.
Here they are in the church. The church is modern in style, and the arrangements I made were perhaps a bit informal for the space, but they worked.
