American Grown Wedding Inspiration: Taylor and Robin

Protea lovers, delight! We couldn’t be more excited to share some American Grown wedding inspiration with you. Last month, Mel and I put on our flower farmer florist hats and went all out designing and creating the wedding flowers for our friend, Taylor Zumstein. She tied the knot with Robin Reese at her family’s horse ranch on a beautiful summer evening. We just loved the way this wedding combined the elements of soft and strong with lots of gorgeous protea, textural green brunia, delicate pink peonies and wispy white veronica.

The pastoral ranch style setting amidst the oak filled grassland made for the perfect venue combined with sweet guest signage, strong wooden elements, welcoming wreaths and cafe lights. These kinds of specials elements really get our hearts racing and shows that rustic wedding style is always open to fresh ideas and new details. And detail was really where this wedding was at, from a sturdy ceremonial arch, to a custom chicken wire seating chart, to heart shaped wreaths and lush protea filled garlands that garnish the head table. Happy smiles were all round! The talented Logan Walker’s dreamy photographic style captured it all to perfection.

In the Field: Protea Aurea

Protea aurea’s most distinctive feature is undoubtedly the shuttlecock-shaped flower heads, measuring about 3 to 5” long, forming from a multitude of small flowers clusters ... hence the common name Shuttlecock sugarbush. Aurea starts to flower in early fall when little else is blooming in the field. Leaves are oval and egg-shaped at the base. They are grey-green, soft and velvety when young. This is to protect the delicate soft leaves from drying out in the sun and from being eaten by wild animals. After the first year, the leaves harden and develop a waxy coating. The hairs disappear, and a smooth leaf surface remains.

The flowers bloom at the top of branches. Buds are cylindrical and when tightly closed resemble a candle. The outer bracts are cream-colored at the tip of the flower changing to green-brown at the base of the flower. When the bud begins to open, the bracts expand outwards and bend outwards. This exposes the many flowers within which stand straight up.

Until recently, Protea aurea has had a very small distribution range and was only found in the Southern Cape. It was first discovered in 1940 and not found again until 1965. The name, aurea, means golden and it is thought that this name was given in error after seeing a dried bloom, as the flower heads fade to a dull yellow when dry.

Aurea is serotinous, meaning the seeds are held within the dried flower heads on the plant for a long period of time. This protects the seed from being eaten by predators. When there is a fire, the mother plant is abolished, and the flower heads burst open and release the seeds. The seeds fall to the ground and germinate prolifically after the first winter rains.