© Janet Davis

Drying garden flowers is the perfect way to continue to enjoy summer’s bounty. The French use the lovely word immortelles to describe dried flowers. How much nicer to “immortalize” favorite posies than consign them to the compost heap!

Although serious hobbyists might use dessicants like silica gel to preserve tricky blooms like lilies and tulips, easier by far is “air-drying” all you need is a dry, warm, darkish (darkness helps to keep colors intense) space that’s well-ventilated. An attic, furnace room or unused bedroom is perfect. String up cord clothesline fashion, screw cup hooks into the ceiling or dig up a few old wooden laundry racks – anything to maximize drying space. Then head out to the garden.

Cutting for drying is best done in mid-morning on a warm sunny day, after dew has evaporated from foliage and when blossoms are in peak condition. Composites (daisy-type flowers) are best picked when the bud has just opened, while roses can be plucked in bud or full bloom, but the majority of everlasting flowers dry best when the flowers are fully open.

Cut stems as long as possible, removing most of the foliage to prevent mildew. (Rose leaves dry fairly well and can be left intact). Secure the flowers in smallish bunches with an elastic band which will constrict along with the shrinking stems. Then hang them upside-down in your drying room, making sure they’re well-spaced so air can get at all sides. Check them from week to week until your harvest is ready to use in baskets, vases, wreaths and topiaries.

Flowers for Drying

What to dry? Excellent perennials are the various yarrows (especially the gold-flowered ones), sages (Salvia), delphinium (dwarf varieties are easiest), globe thistle, peony (see the gorgeous peonies in the dried arrangement from Spadina House, shown on the left), baby’s breath, liatris, sea holly (Eryngium), lavender, lamb’s ears (Stachys), pincushion flower (Scabiosa), sea lavender (Limonium), tansy, goldenrod, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, cupid’s dart (Catanache). Chinese lantern (Physalis) and pearly everlasting (Anaphalis). Annuals that dry nicely include celosia, statice, blue salvia ‘Victoria’, bells-of-Ireland, strawflower (helichrysum), larkspur, marigold, love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus), globe amaranth (Gomphrena) and, of course, immortelle (Xeranthemum). Good biennials include mulleins, honesty or silver dollar plant (Lunaria) and teasel. Roses (especially floribundas) and hydrangeas of all kinds dry well. Don’t forget herbs like sage, rosemary, tarragon and artemesia, as well as the wonderful berried branches, rose hips, ornamental grasses and seedheads (poppies, love-in-a-mist, etc.) that adds pizzazz to dried arrangements.

Adapted from a column that appeared originally in the Toronto Sun

Back to Bouquets, Crafts & Containers