Flower Recipe: Mid-May Garden Bouquet

The month of May is such a dreamy time for flowers. And it seemed that our anticipation for the peonies and roses this spring just wouldn’t stop swelling! While the quintessential bulb flowers were already memories and the joy of bridal spirea and lilac faded, we turned our focus to these classic garden varieties. We closely watched our arbor for the first hint of rosebuds. And just as our Cherokee rose began to bloom, so did these favorites.

For this bouquet, we were able to include Icelandic poppies grown by Green’s Garden which were delightfully late blooming compared to last year. They remind me of little butterflies hovering over the rest of the flowers. The palest pink petals of the Shirley Temple peony from Megan of Nourished Farms open up to a creamy center, somehow evoking a feeling of lightness. And those roses! A gift from our friend Shannon of Shannon Duggan Photography—I truly cannot imagine this bouquet without them.

David Austin Garden Rose “Desdemona,” “Roald Dahl,” “Tranquility”

Icelandic Poppy, mixed varieties

Mock Orange

Peony “Jan Van Leeuwen,” “Shirley Temple”

Shannon Duggan Photography