Over the last couple of years I have been experimenting with drying flowers and creating everlasting wreaths and bouquets. It’s a great way to save and use flowers before they go over to use and sell at a later date. I also love having them during the festive season when there are very few fresh flowers to pick to use in my Christmas wreaths.
My method of drying is really simple. I pick my flowers on a dry evening, after a warm day but not too hot. I remove most of the leaves and bundle with elastic bands in small bunches of about 10 stems. Elastic bands work better for bunching than string as the stems shrink a lot as they dry but the elastic keeps them tightly bunched together. it’s important to keep the bunches small so that air can circulate to prevent them from going mouldy before they dry out. I hang them in the living room for 2-3 weeks to completely dry. Our living room is perfect for drying flowers as it’s an old stone cottage so it’s fairly dark and cool in the summer. But the main aim is to dry them somewhere out of direct sunlight and somewhere cool but nice and dry with good air flow.
I have tried drying daffodils for the first time this spring with very satisfying results and I can’t wait to use them once I’ve gathered more ingredients to complement them, I’m thinking lots of feathery grasses and pale coloured statice. In early June I will begin gathering my grasses from the hedgerows, there are some really lovely ones to pick and it’s incredible the variety’s that you can find on just one walk, have a go and see for yourself! I am also growing some perennial grasses in the garden along with some annual ones too- bunny tails and red millet, two of my favourites.
My favourite flowers to grow from seed for drying are limmonium (statice), ammi visnaga, billy buttons, bunny tail grasses (which have gone into the ground this weekend) and of course Helichrysum (straw flowers) which are really easy to dry and come in a huge range of colours! It’s best to pick flowers for drying when they are at their best- fully open but not too long after, with straw flowers pick them just as they are beginning to open and they will continue to open as they dry out.
My favourite perennials for drying are peonies, sea holly, lavender, heather, achillea and echinops. Please do comment if you’ve tried drying anything unusual and been surprised by the results, I’d love to know.
In the garden this week, the geums are just beginning to flower, the roses have tiny buds showing, the broome bush is just coming into flower, forget me nots are at their best and also perfect for picking for drying and the peonies have suddenly shot up- surprisingly the one that’s in the shade has grown with the greatest vigor!
The weather has been very changeable and very rainy- but April showers bring May flowers, so I’m hopeful for a very flowery month ahead. My everlastings will be ready to order again around June time- I can’t wait to get making them again for 2023!
Have a great week! Rebecca