The Hype About Dried Flowers:

We have become big fans of dried flowers, here on our flower farm. Not only do they last for SO long but they are also beautiful - often with a distinct aesthetic that has been gaining in popularity. That’s just a couple of reasons why we are loving them. Dried flowers  were once referred to as the bouquets of winter because the importing of fresh flowers, from warm, southern countries, to the colder regions of the US was not always at our fingertips. So to bring some color and nature inside in the dead of winter, dried flowers were the star. Fast forward to the early 80s, dried flowers were popular for their whimsical style in design and used heavily in products like potpourri. Now, with more priority shifting back towards local flowers–dried arrangements are still a fantastic way of making use of local flowers, even during the off season.

Dried flowers are also a fantastic solution for our local flower farm–helping us extend our flower season. In our region, fresh flowers cannot be grown year round (unless you have heated greenhouses) so when the first frost of fall comes, we say goodbye to fresh flowers and hello to the bundles of flowers we have dried throughout the summer/fall. A win/win solution for those who love local flowers and those who grow them.

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Our Favorite Dried Flowers:

When we are planning what flowers to plant each season, we try to incorporate flowers that are not only great in our fresh bouquets but also for what dries well! A few of those varieties include: bunny tail grass, statice, strawflower, basil, eucalyptus, lavender, starflower, gomphrena, feverfew, cress, giant marigolds, and amaranth.

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Not only do we go for different varieties of flowers, we also like to make sure we have a variety of different types of flowers (just like in our fresh flower work), such as focal flowers (i.e. marigolds), disc flowers (strawflower, gomphrena), spike flowers (grasses, amaranth), and filler flowers (statice, cress, feverfew). We also like to add herbs (like lavender and basil) to our fresh bouquets to add lots of fragrance.

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How we use Dried Flowers:

Some of the top ways we use dried flowers are to make wreaths, vase arrangements, centerpieces, ornaments, and hand tied bouquets. You can even find them in our wedding flowers, either in the winter when many of the flowers are dried, or even incorporated into a mostly fresh flower arrangement.

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How you can dry your Fresh Bouquet:

After you have enjoyed your fresh flower arrangement for a few days, you can turn it into a dried arrangement on your own to enjoy even longer! To do that, pull all of your stems out of the vase before the majority of the flowers start to deteriorate/wilt. After that, dry off the ends of the stems, rubberband the stems together, and hang them upside down to dry for about 1-2 weeks in a cool, dry, and dark location. Once they have dried, you can turn them upright and put them back in a vase or other container to enjoy for as long as you would like. Please know that dried flowers can be very delicate so they do best in a place where they won’t get bumped or moved around and where they are out of direct sunlight.

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We hope this encourages you to keep an eye out for the many different ways dried flowers are being used and even purchase (or dry your own). We would love to see the ways you use dried flowers in and around your home!

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Here are a few dried flower arrangements we were loving this year...

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Look for dried flowers from our farm, or your area flower farms from August-May!