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Aug 23rd, 2010
Aug 23rd, 2010
I was wondering the best garden flowers to dry?
I love drying flowers and have a great garden, does anyone know what flowers dry the best. I want to plant a cutting garden next year and was wondering what to grow?
Roses
Air drying will give fast results and is recommended for these plants:
Yarrow – white and yellow flowering varieties dry best.
Artemesia – the perennial is a good base for wreaths.
Cockscomb Celosia – strip off the foliage.
Love in a Mist Nigella – wait until the seed pods are fully developed.
Peonies – hold over a steam kettle to loosen the petals prior to using the dried flowers.
Poppy Pods – pick when the pods are green.
Salvia – holds the color well and is good for substance in arrangements.
Ornamental grasses – harvest when the seed heads are fully open.
Bittersweet – plant both a male and a female for fruit.
Glycerin is used for green foliage plants to keep them looking fresh (dye can be added to enhance the color):
Sweet Annie Artemesia – harvest late summer when the flowers are yellow balls.
Statice – it can be dried but lasts longer in glycerin.
Goldenrod – cut before the first flowers open.
Some flowers do best with silica:
Creeping Zinnia
Rudbeckia – silica for three days and then spray front and back to seal.
Sunflowers – select ones with short petals such as Sunbright.
Look beyond the flower garden for items to use in arrangements. Sweet corn tassels for wreaths. Okra pods that are too large to eat are used in designs. Grains such as Oat, Wheat, and Milo can also be harvested and dried.
I like Hydrangea’s, especially for fall wreath’s, I dry them with a cheap hair spray..