Let’s say you want to create a flower arrangement that will last longer than a few days but artificial flowers don’t trip your trigger. Maybe, what you have in mind are blooms from your own garden or from the wild. The best solution will be dehydrated flowers. Dried arrangements are some of the most popular and beautiful creations we can put together. You simply need to find plants that are easy to dry.
I get some Sedum stems each year from my border plantings. These are so easy to grow that they thrive on neglect. I only use these on arrangements that I won’t move very often at first because they tend to drop debris for awhile. It helps to wave them in the wind a few times before using them, too.
Here is an application that uses Sedum as a foundation. The dark purple goes well with the coral glaze of the Abingdon vase. I used some Chinese Lantern, Globe Thistle and feathers to complete this informal arrangement for Fall and Winter display. If I decide to add some lighter colors like dried Baby’s Breath, the arrangement could be used year around.
Some of the easily obtainable plants that adapt well include Baby’s Breath, Chinese Lantern, Cupid’s Dart, Echinacea (purple coneflower), Globe Thistle, Goldenrod and Yarrow.
I’m a real fan of wheat grass and other wild grasses. It helps that I don’t suffer any allergies or asthma problems. If you or someone in your home or office does, you’d be wise to pass on the grass. I stumbled upon an antique Watts cookie jar that had lost its lid years ago. I have some tall, large headed grasses (weeds?) that dried well. I combined them with some dark brown specimens from our hobby shop plus a small handful of dried tea roses to come up with this year around floor arrangement.
If you want to dry larger flowers, pick up some silicon material for that purpose at a hobby store. Place a layer in a microwave safe box, put in a layer of flowers, then top it off with more silicon material. Carefully heat it in the microwave. Be sure to check it very frequently. If you have more time, simply use the silicon material without heating in the microwave oven, in the box with flowers as suggested on the silicon material’s package directions.
Perhaps you don’t have a green thumb or any flowers handy. Most cities have hobby stores that include a floral department. You can often find dried flowers and dried flower kits for resonably inexpensive prices. I found a kit with a generous supply of dried and fabricated flowers at our local Hobby Lobby. I decided that approximately half of the material would fit into this 1970s vintage Royal Haeger vase. Everything except the saw palmetto leaves are natural. The fan shaped leaves are actually paper, so even they are plant based.
The kit’s ingredients had been dyed and treated with preservatives. I’ve enjoyed this arrangement for over a year. I really like the bold, chunky textures.
I hope you’ve been inspired by these idea starters.
Ciao
The Blue Jay of Happiness is glad that these economical flowers are mostly friendly to our environment.
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