Flowers for Drying

HANGING FLOWERS TO DRY

Flowers in their absolute prime bloom time are the best choice for drying. Pick flowers on a dry day, after the morning dew has evaporated. Strip all leaves around the base of the stems, and then wrap stem ends with a medium thickness rubber band to hold them together. Keep your bunches small to minimize drying time. Choose an appropriate place, ideally dark, dry, and well ventilated, to use as a drying area. Insert a paper clip through the rubber band and hang the flowers upside down, as soon as possible, on a clothes hanger. The flowers should be dry in approximately two weeks. Air-drying can be easier, with longer lasting results, than using silica gel.

DRYING FLOWERS WITH SILICA GEL CRYSTALS

Pick flowers in their prime on a dry day, and follow the directions on the silica gel package. The silica gel method produces beautiful results, but the final product is more fragile. Flowers dried in this way may re-absorb moisture from the air. Heating and air conditioning should keep humidity low and extend the useful life of your dried flowers. Sealing your arrangements in a decorative glass container can also make them last longer.

The following lists perennials (P), shrubs (S), annuals (A), and herbs (H) which lend themselves particularly well to drying. The flowers and foliage of many herbs can be dried in small bunches which is particularly useful in wreath making. Flowers that air dry well are in bold.

PLANT TYPE	BOTANICAL NAME	COMMON NAME	PARTS OF INTEREST
P	Ornamental Grasses		Foliage/Seed Heads
P	Achillea	Yarrow	Flowers
A	Agastache	Hyssop	Flowers
P	Alchemilla	Lady's Mantle	Flowers
P	Allium	Onion	Flowers/Seed Heads
A	Amaranthus	Love-Lies-Bleeding	Flowers
A/H	Anethum	Dill	Seed Heads
P	Artemisia	Wormwood	Foliage
P	Armeria	Common Thrift	Flowers
P	Delphinium	Larkspur	Flowers
A	Dianthus	Sweet William	Flowers
P	Dianthus	Carnations	Flowers
P	Echinacea	Purple ConeFlower	Seed heads
P	Echinops	Globe Thistle	Flowers
P	Eryngium	Sea Holly	Flowers
P	Eupatorium	Mist Flower	Flowers
A	Gomphrena	Globe Amaranth	Flowers
P	Gypsophila	Baby's Breath	Flowers
A	Helichrysum	Straw Flower	Flowers
P	Heuchera	Coral Bells	Flowers
S	Hydrangea	Hydrangea	Flowers
A/S	Laurus	Bay	Foliage
P	Lavandula	Lavender	Flowers
P	Liatris	Gayfeather	Flowers
A	Limonium	Statice	Flowers
A	Matricaria	Fever Few	Flowers
A	Matthiola	Stock	Flowers
A	Nigella	Love-in-a-Mist	Flowers
P/A/H	Origanum	Marjoram	Foliage
P	Paeonia	Peony	Flowers
P	Perovskia	Russian Sage	Flowers/ Foliage
P	Physalis	Chinese Lantern	Flowers/ Seed Pods
A/H	Rosmarinus	Rosemary	Flowers/ Foliage
P	Rudbeckia	Black Eyed Susan	Seed Heads
A/P	Salvia	Sage	Flowers/ Foliage
P	Santolina	Lavender Cotton	Flowers
P	Stachys	Lambs Ear	Foliage/ Flower
A	Tagetes	Marigold	Flowers
P/H	Tanacetum	Tansy	Flowers