If you haven’t noticed, drying flowers is having a comeback.

My theory for this happening is that people are yearning for things that last in our disposable culture. Dried flowers can last indefinitely if kept out of the sun (and away from cats, lol). This is one reason I am so drawn to them; they are nature’s art preserved. The ultimate green gift: born from the earth, grown by you (or just dried), beautiful and built to last! Fresh flowers are lovely, but they never last long enough. Drying flowers can save you money also, more bang for your buck from a fresh bouquet. Next time I will share my favorite things to make using dried flowers.

After drying flowers, use them for crafts and green gifting!

I am by no means an expert when it comes to drying flowers, but I have learned many things in the last few years that might be helpful to you. The idea for this post came from interacting with many people at the Eugene Saturday Market. I get asked all the time, how do I dry flowers and keep the colors so vibrant? Well the answer is, and then some:

1. Remember the 3 D’s for drying flowers: Down, Dark and Dry.

Whether you have grown the flowers yourself or scored an awesome bouquet of fresh flowers, there are some general rules. Remember the 3 D’s when drying flowers. Generally speaking, you will want to hang your cut flowers upside down in a dry, dark place. It doesn’t have to be a completely dark place, but remember the more light (especially sunlight) on them, the more faded their colors will be. I am fortunate to have a closet solely dedicated to drying flowers. A dry place is essential though. The faster the flowers dry, the more vibrant the colors will be at the end. A moist or humid environment will slow down the drying process and cause browning and rotting to occur. Removing extra leaves before hanging also helps them to dry faster.

I use a rubber band (can usually reuse more than once) to keep the stems together and then tie one end of a hemp string (can later compost) around the rubber band. Lastly I hang the bundle from a rod or hanger, tying the other end of hemp string around it. After hanging, gently separate stems and flowers as much as possible to encourage air flow throw the bundle, helping to speed up the drying process. Having a fan on in the room can also help increase circulation.

However, not all flowers like to be hung upside down for drying.

For example, strawflower stems become very thin and fragile when they start drying. So tying them up doesn’t work very well. I either hang them from clips or lay them flat until dried. Dahlia blooms are very heavy, yet their stems are not very sturdy. These I also lay flat or put in a narrow opening of some kind, making sure the bloom is supported in some way. Some flowers, like Shasta daisies and statice can be put directly in a vase or jar after cutting because their stems are thick and sturdy while drying. To learn more,

Watch my video: Drying Flowers, 3 Helpful Tips to Get Started!

2. Experiment, Experiment and Experiment!

I cannot emphasize this enough. Some of my favorite dried flowers are ones that I originally thought wouldn’t dry well. Mainly because I hadn’t seen them dried before, like zinnias and dahlias. Check out my video to see both drying and dried. Another way to experiment is to pick things up on walks or take little samples from my neighbor’s plants (I recommend asking first) to take home. Sometimes the results are really cool and other times it’s a big dud. However, the risk is small for the reward of discovering some unexpected beauty. I also experiment with the timing of harvesting the bloom. For example, I like to harvest my strawflowers when the first, outer layer of petals begin to open. If you wait till it is completely open for harvesting, the dried flower has a completely different look. I also harvest bachelor buttons as soon as they bloom, which makes them less fragile when dried. I show examples of this in the video.

I have a shrub in my yard that I kept clipping blooms from at different stages of blooming this past spring, and each time I got a slightly different color and texture. It really depends on the effect you are going for and your personal preference. See below the same flower, Nigella (love in a mist), in different stages of harvest: blooming and seed pod. I love using both for their different qualities!

3. Leave some flowers for the pollinators!

This is the right thing to do for so many reasons, but I will just mention a few. First of all, pollinator populations (wasps, bees, hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, etc.) are being threatened all over the world by use of pesticides and loss of habitat. We can help them out by growing beneficial plants (and not using pesticides like Roundup). There is a lot of information online about which flowers and plants are important for different species. Second, helping them helps us. Pollinators are essential to the global production of food, so without them, no food for us. The third reason also benefits us, adequate pollination of our flowers can equal more flowers next year! We actually grow some flowers, like mint and echinacea, just for the pollinators. I also learned this year that they really love blue globe thistle (see pic below). A bonus reason for leaving some flowers on your plants is to allow them to self-seed, dropping their seeds and possibly creating volunteer plants the following year.

Thank you so much for reading, and please email me at: goosehillgifts@gmail.com if you still have any questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Take care, Brigitte McBride