My first attempts at picking and drying flowers to make a fall arrangement.
Besides getting bit and stung by every insect out there, it has been fun. I started out with some annual ornamental grasses and echinacea, which led to herbs, twigs, wildflowers, shrubs and what ever else I though might look good for an arrangement.
Usually every year, I go and buy stuff to make an arrangement, but this year, well I didnt want to go buy anything.
So I started:
After harvesting all the plants and grasses on the porch, it was time to hang them up to dry. So I went into this totally unprepared, so I had to be creative.lol
I used some garden twine to wrap the bundles, which worked out just fine. Used a ladder to hang them up to dry.
From left to right:
Red feather grass, Echinacea, Lemon grass, Creeping Jenny, Orange Rocket Barberry, Mint and lemon balm, then finally basil.
I read an article on NGA, about different processes to dry out flowers. Mind you, I read this after I had already started hanging these plants to dry.
To my delight, I did it correctly. I hung up everything upside down, in a well ventilated area. I read that hairspray would work to 'set' the color and shape in place. Well thats what I used, because I didnt have anything else. So after using half of my hair spray, I decided it was time to buy some acrylic sealer.
That stuff is not cheap.
Well, things shrink when they dry out. I looked at my inventroy, and I did not have enough. The article I read, says..pick more than you need. I was off, lets walk the yard, and the fields and see what we can find.
I added a few items to the inventory list:
Some different weeds and wild flowers I thought might look good dried
Oh, the Pampas grass, their feathers are so beautiful, I have to have one of these too:
Then, the Black Eyes Susans. Those are a must, so I picked a bunch of this:
Well, is takes from 10-20 days to air dry these items. So, it was tome to wrap the stems in some floral tape. This will strengthen the stems, and I can combine more than 1 item with it. Let the wrapping begin!!
Well, after hours of wrapping the stems, and reapplying more acrylic seal (I probably used way to much), I was ready to make my first home made arrangement.
Now, this is just the first of many to come. I think it looks pretty good. Others might think its ugly or it looks like a bunch of weeds. Thats ok. I am proud of myself, LOL . Now that I have a little experience, its time to go full throttle into this, well, while I have dried goods.
The finished product.
