Article: Create a Seasonal Dried Flower Arrangement from your Garden
. . . Easy HOW-TO

Created on: Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Pee Gee hydrangeas (H. paniculata grandiflora), with their big, fluffy ice cream cone-shaped flowers, can be picked from the pinkish stage onward and dried upright in a loose arrangement without water. Drying will take about two weeks.
Annual blue salvia (S. farinacea) should be cut before flowers fully open, tied in small bunches, and hung upside down to dry for two to three weeks. Gayfeather (Liatris spicata), cut when the flower has only half opened, can be hung upside down to dry for two to three weeks.
Ornamental grasses -- pick any variety whose inflorescences have just fully opened and dry them in an arrangement. Theyll be fully dry in about two weeks.
Sedum Autumn Joy can be picked when flower heads are open but still firm. Hang upside down individually, as thick stems take three weeks to dry.

Voila! Arrange together in a pretty vase or in florist foam in a basket.
- adapted from Dried Flowers by Cathy Miller