The following is a post from contributing writer Jacinda.
I suppose I grow flowers in my garden for two main reasons:
- To enjoy their beauty outdoors.
- To enjoy their beauty indoors.
Drying flowers is my favorite way to make reason #2 happen all year round. The arrangement I’ve made here consists of pink peonies, yellow yarrow, silver lamb’s ears, and green peony leaves, but don’t be limited by my choices! Experiment with any flower from your garden – you may be surprised at how uniquely beautiful the dried version looks!
Supplies Needed
- Freshly cut flowers, in the very beginning of their blooming season
- raffia or twine
- a place to hang your flowers to dry
- floral foam
- a knife
- moss (I used sphagnum)
- floral wire
- a suitable container for an arrangement
Instructions.
1. My method for drying flowers is a simple as it gets. Tie no more than four stems together using the raffia or twine. This will ensure that the blooms don’t get squished together and loose their shape. It will also enable the air around them to circulate properly so they dry at an even rate.
2. Hang them upside down to dry for 3-4 weeks away from direct sunlight.
3. Once your flowers are completely dry, untie the twine and remove their leaves by carefully snipping them as close as possible to the stem. Don’t throw them away!
4. Clip the stems of your flowers so they sit at the appropriate height inside your container. As a rule of thumb, the middle of your arrangement should be the highest point, and the outside edges the lowest.
5. Fill your container until it’s level with the mouth with floral foam, using a knife to trim off any excess. Cover the foam with moss.
6. Have a plan for the way you want your arrangement to look, either in your mind or jotted down on paper. The plan for my arrangement looked like this:
7. Insert your stems into the foam, beginning with the largest blooms and work your way down to the smallest. Add your greenery last. Spin your arrangement around several times so you can take a look at it from all angles. Fill in any gaps with smaller blooms or leaves.
Voila! Now you’ll be able to enjoy the bounty from your garden long after its peak.
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Ruth Ridley says
Gorgeous arrangement – I’m particularly impressed with how good the lambs ears and peonies look when dried.