Lunch at the Flint Farmers Market – Part 1
Aug 31st, 2009 by janet
A few weeks ago my friend (and neighbor) Elizabeth called. She had some seriously overgrown smoke bush in her yard. Her problem was my dream come true! I drove over with three buckets of water and went to work.
I took the clippings, along with my table setup down to the Flint Farmers Market, and here’s what I created…
I suspended an umbrella of smoke bush above the table. Extra leaves rained down onto the tabletop.
Then I put together a quick centerpiece to bring color onto the tabletop.
Finally, I whipped up a bouquet completely out of smoke bush. I love the translucency of the leaves. I also love that they are purple on the top and green on the bottom.
Here is a top view of the bouquet.
OMG! I love smoke bush and can never get my hands on it.
Pink with smoke bush is awesome, but I really like the white you used. I really like the bouquet! I would have never thought to use smoke bush in mass, but it looks really great :)
I tried to talk a few brides into the blush pink/smoke bush combo this year, and no one bit. There’s always next year I guess!
This is so incredibly creative! That ceiling piece and bouquet- I haven’t seen anything like that before, stunning!!
I tried to use smoke bush leaves in bouttonnieres, but they didn’t stay hydrated and curled up. How did you get the foliage to look so great?
WOW WOW WOW!
I absolutely love EVERYTHING!
For a wedding in October, I am curious about the availability of smoke bush… and if there are any substitutions you would recommend?
Hi Amy!
Smoke bush production peters out some time in October. I can’t give you an exact date, but farms will just stop cutting it when it looks bad. I tried to get it the first week of November last year and I couldn’t.
If you have a friend that owns a smoke bush ask if you can trim it for them right before your wedding. Free branches are the best kind!
If you need to use a substitute I would recommend Agonis. It’s a wispy eucalyptus dyed purple. It has a feather-y texture which is completely different from smoke bush, but the color is the same. It’s available almost all winter.