Cool Flowers for Hot Temps

Pictured here with the roses and hypericum berries are two kinds of Celosia. The tufted flame-like flower is called Plumosa and the coral head-like flowers are called Cockscomb. This flower lasted in extreme heat outdoors for two days and still looked great! We had a very large outdoor wedding over Labor Day weekend in Rolling Hills, CA - a community in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Temperatures were in the 100s. (Our car was parked in the shade and the temp gauge outside told us it was 117 degrees!) Since the ceremony and reception were going to be outside, we placed the flowers shortly before the guests arrived at 4 p.m. and were confident they would do well for the next 7 hours. We used hardy flowers the bride had chosen with our guidance consisting of roses, spray roses, cabbage, bird of paradise, dahlias and the magic flower - Celosia. When we went back to pick up the rental items from the event site two days later, most of the flowers still looked great. We rescued the Celosia from all the centerpieces, brought them back to the studio and enjoyed them in vases for the next week.