Year-round blooms This wreath will
remind you of summer's sweet beauty
Our gardens
fade into memory each winter. You can change all that by drying many of your garden
flowers and using them to decorate indoors.
Jerri Hopkins has been drying flowers for decades, using them as touches in custom
floral arrangements for her shop, Plantiques in Newport News.
High in the hot, dark attic of the historic Hilton home that houses her business, Jerri
hangs bunch after bunch of plant material upside down so their shape stays nice while they
dry. Some floral experts say a cool, dark place is best but Jerri finds the heat of a
summer attic does the trick.
The garage usually yields too much humidity, causing the flowers to mildew or mold, she
says.
For drying, she favors Silver King artemisia, globe amaranth, golden yarrow,
hydrangeas, roses and okra pods.
Hydrangeas can be tricky to dry. You have to pick them at just the right time, says
Jerri. That right time is when the flowers are slightly mature, taking on an opaque look.
The blooms will feel a bit papery and rustle when you touch them.
``Everyone wants them to be blue when they are dry but that's almost impossible,'' says
Jerri. Instead, nicely dried hydrangeas take on purplish, greenish and beige tones.
To dry hydrangeas and roses the easy way, place long stems of the flowers in a vase
containing one inch of water.
Leave the flowers and they should dry in three days to a week, depending on how dry the
flowers are when you pick them.
This method really works for the florist-type American Beauty red roses, says Elaine
Robinson, a floral designer at Plantiques.
By chance, she discovered this process when she placed a floral arrangement of roses in
one of her bathrooms at home.
As she kept going in there to admire them, she realized the flowers were drying
beautifully. The red roses dry to dark reddish-purplish tones that complement hydrangeas
in a dried wreath or tabletop arrangement.
Roadside plants good for drying include goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace and milkweed pods.
Dry pansies on a paper towel in the microwave, 10 seconds at a time.
TO MAKE THIS WREATH
Here's how to make the dried hydrangea and rose wreath created by Plantiques.
Materials: 1 grapevine wreath (24-inch one pictured); 14 large mophead dried
hydrangeas; 20 dried roses; glue sticks and glue gun; clear sealing floral spray.
Directions: Separate hydrangeas into smaller bunches and place around wreath. Adhere
them with hot glue once you are satisfied with placement. Tuck in and glue dried roses.
Attach hanger made with pipe cleaners. Spray with product such as Floralife sealer for
dried materials.
Note: Indoors this wreath should last about three years; spray dust it each year with
aerosol hair spray or more dried material sealer. Outdoors, the wreath will last about a
year; keep it out of sun to maintain the hydrangeas. You also can create this wreath look
in all silks or a combination of silks and dried flowers. |