Gardening: The Race Is On

Well, today is three weeks from flower arranging day so I thought I'd post a little update.

I'm sad to say that I'm 99% certain the annuals I started from seed are just not going to be blooming in time to participate in the wedding bouquets. They're surviving reasonably well in my little garden plot but given that we had a pretty cool April and beginning of May, coupled with the questionable soil quality, and the fact that I was rushing the little suckers anyway, I'm just going to have to be satisfied with enjoying my bachelor buttons, zinnias, and calendulas later in the summer. Here's a shot of the garden:
(The grass is clippings from mowing the lawn, it's really not over-run with weeds.)

There are glimmers of hope for wedding flowers, however. Yesterday, on my daily check, I spotted this!
That's right, it's a bud. One of my ranunculus has a bud! Inspiring, no? I have no idea how long it takes to go from bud to bloom but with 3 more weeks of sunshine and warmth I'm thinking there's a chance these guys will be flowering on June 12. And, now I know what the buds look like so it will be easy to spot more.
Here we've got my brand-new Asiatic lilies, transplanted this week from FSMIL's yard, along with some sweet peas. The lilies have formed buds but they're still tightly packed down in the leaves. Anyone know how long they take to flower from that point? I have a feeling they might be spent by the wedding but maybe they'll around for the party. The sweet peas are growing like crazy, I swear they're 3 inches taller from when I check them in the morning to when I check them in the evening. I am a little concerned that the rapid onset of heat will take them down before they have a chance to bloom. Sweet peas really don't like weather over 85 degrees and we've been pushing right up against that temp the last couple days. We'll see what they do, perhaps they'll grace our lovely reception tables in a few weeks.

The calla lily on the left illustrates why you should not impatiently mess with the bulb by poking your fingers down in the dirt to look at it as it's trying to start to grow ... the calla on the right is rockin though! This photo is from yesterday and already this morning the spikes are starting to unfurl into leaves. Cross your fingers folks, perhaps the men will end up with lovely flame calla lily boutonnieres.

Last we have the anemones. I have not seen a bud yet but they're quite leafy and lush so I expect one any day. Somehow I thought these were early blooming (like, right after tulips) but apparently they are later than I thought. Google tells me anemones bloom anywhere from spring to fall, depending on the variety, but of course I tossed the packaging so I have no frame of reference.

There you have it. Okay, off to check the plants again!