Each year I look at the riot of colorful flowers in my garden and want to save them for the dark winter months. One of the best ways I have found to do this is by making dried flower bouquets. After a lot of trial and error the plants that seem to work the best for this are chives, yarrow, money plant, lavender, hydrangea, oregano, pearly everlasting and grasses with showy seed sprays. Other flowers will dry but a lot of them fall apart or quickly fade.
To dry the flowers cut them with long stems and strip off the bottom leaves. Next tie them at the top with string or wire and hang them in a dark place until dry. I string a piece of rope across the rafters in my basement and hang the bunches from there. Once dry you can arrange them in whatever way you like.
Try out different flowers from your yard and let me know what you like to dry!
Bluebells dry well to a deep lavender color.
When drying chives pick and hang them in a dark place before they open completely.
Hydrangeas are always good for drying.
Daisies are not thought of in dried bouquets but they dry quite nicely.
Sea Holly dries well and has an interesting shape to it.
I'd love to hear from you!