The art of the dried flower arrangement
Five minute read
I’m a sucker for some dried foliage with seed heads and grasses being my number one all time favourite. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so easy to look after, whether they simply just look beautiful or even that they last forever. But I do love the fact that they are naturally biodegradable and don’t need light or water, and you’ll find plenty in my own home. The only thing you do need to be careful of is where you place them - no damp or humid areas or they’ll soon go mouldy…which definitely isn’t the look you want.
They’ve also always featured heavily in a lot of my styled shoots for commercial interiors clients, as they are such a great way to show off a vase plus are much easier to transport than fresh flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I love cut flowers as much as the next person but when it comes to longevity you can’t beat a ‘winter bouquet’ as the Victorians used to call them.
But how to style them? Do you go with a lone, larger seed head, an oversized bunch of the same type or do you mix and match a variety of types and sizes? Well you can in fact choose any of those options, and so I’d like to share some tips for showing off these beauties that will look great in any home.
So can you dry your own at home?
The simple answer is yes.
According to Bloom and Wild, the easiest way is preserve them is to simply hang them upside down in a dark and dry place for a few weeks. And for anyone with a loft or attic space, I’m thinking that might be the perfect spot as it’s normally the hottest place a house anyway (in summertime of course).
Also, I must admit I did that whole ‘no-mow May’ last year which resulted in some very long grass in my garden…and I did in fact dry a huge bunch of it successfully. And I think it’s still in a vase somewhere in the house!
But the only way to find out if it will really work is to give it a try, which I would totally recommend as at the very least you get a free bunch of grasses to mix in with some bought dried foliage. Plus there is something super satisfying about drying your own.
So that’s it for today, and I hope I’ve inspired you to do a bit of dried floral arranging yourself. Just don’t forget to dust them every so often…