Gifts from the Garden: Dried Flowers in Winter

 

I know I promised to return to regular posts, but so far, I have only managed two in 2020. Sorry about that! My sister was here for a visit from Ireland, so a number of renovation projects demanded all my time. In the end, not everything got done for her visit, but I am pleased with what we did manage to accomplish.

It was lovely to spend a little time with my sister Nancy. For most of our adult lives, we have lived on different continents. Though we talk often, time spent together is much less frequent than I'd like. 

Outside my window, light powdery snow is swirling around in a wicked wind like a swarm of angry hornets. Warm spring days are over a month into the future, so its a bit early to be thinking about starting seeds. Instead, I tend my little indoor garden that sits along a window ledge overlooking the same snowy landscape.

 

 

Any flowers are a welcome sight on these bleak winter days– pots of yellow daffodils, fragrant hyacinths or bunches of cut flowers from the grocery store. 

While fresh is best, dried flowers can be just as pretty. In February, it was a pleasure to pull out a small vase filled with the strawflowers I had dried last fall. Dried flowers have fallen out of fashion in recent years, but I am hoping they are finally going to be making a comeback. (Hey, who would've guessed that macrame would come back into fashion in such a big way!!)

Recently, I have been really inspired by the work of UK florist Lindsey Kitchin (see thewhitehorseflower on Instagram). Take a quick look at these lovely creations that mix flowers, foliage and berries; here, here and here. 

I love the wide variety of materials used and the simple velvet bows that adorn many of her arrangements. I find myself flipping through catalogues with a mind to planting more foliage and flowers that might be dried for next winter.

After I took down the Christmas decorations in January, I dug out the dried flower wreath I made last fall and hung it up in the freshly painted dining room. 

The mauve, pink and purple flowers never seem to fit with autumnal shades of yellow, orange and red, but right now in the dead of winter, those cool colors feel appropriate to the season, and at the same time, cheerful enough to foretell the arrival of spring.

Artemesia ludoviciana 'Silver King' is a spreading perennial that has fragrant, silver-grey foliage (As this is an aggressive perennial, I would not recommend it be mixed into a perennial flowerbed. It's better grown in a large tub). Drought tolerant when established. Full sun. Height: 75-90 cm ( 29-35 inches), Spread: 60-75cm (23-29 inches). USDA zones: 2-9.

I started this project with a Grapevine wreath as my base. Then I wedged in pieces of Artemesia that I had grown in the garden and dried (I prefer not to use wire or glue to hold my dried materials in place. I like to dismantle and reuse my grapevine wreaths when they get dusty. If you prefer something more secure, apply glue to the base of each stem or wrap the flowers in with wire).

Best Foliage for Dried Arrangements

Artemesia 'Silver King'

German statice or Goniolimon tataricum

Sea Lavender, Italian statice or Limonium latifolium

Seeded Eucalyptus

Whether you are making a wreath or an arrangement of flowers in a container, you need a good foundation of foliage on which you can build the final project. Of all the materials you will need, this layer requires the greatest amount of material. 

I often see delicate Sea Lavender in the floral section at the grocery store, but it is fairly pricy. It is hardy here, so Limonium latifolium is one of the perennials I'd love to add to my garden.

Sea Lavender, Italian statice or Statice latifolium forms a low mound of leathery green leaves. Clouds of wiry, upright stems carry pale lavender flowers in summer. Pick the stems just as the flowers begin to open and hang them to dry. Once established this perennial is very tolerant of hot, dry sites. It dislikes being moved or divided. Attractive to butterflies. Sandy, well-drained soil is prefered. Full sun. Height: 60-75 cm ( 23-29 inches), Spread: 60-70 cm (23-27 inches). USDA zones: 2-9.

German statice or Goniolimon tataricum is quite similar, but the dried branches are a bit more prickly. Again there is a rosette of leathery green leaves and upright branches of flowers in summer. Sandy, well-drained soil is prefered. Drought tolerant once established. Full sun. Height: 25-40 cm (10-16 inches), Spread: 30-45cm (12-18 inches). USDA zones: 2-9.

Seeded Eucalyptus, which has grey-green foliage, is readily available through florists or at the grocery store. I simply hang it to dry.

Best Seedheads for Drying

Allium

Annual Poppy, Papaver somniferum

Love-in-the-Mist, Nigella damascena

Seedheads of Ornamental Grasses

Top left to right: Amaranth, Sea Holly, Celosia. 

Bottom left to right: Gomphrena, Yarrow and Lavender.

How to Dry Flowers

Air Drying

The best method for drying flowers varies according to the flower, but hanging them to upsidedown is one of the easiest methods for drying a wide array of flowers. It is best to harvest flowers when they are just beginning to open. Pick them on a dry day in late morning after any dew has evaporated or in the early evening. 

Generally speaking, I remove the leaves from the flower stems (dense foliage can affect good air circulation around flower bunches and cause stems to rot rather than dry. Leaves can also become quite brittle when dried). An exception to this rule might be roses. The leaves are brittle, but rather pretty when dried. I only clear away the foliage at the base of the stems where my elastic band will sit.   

Simply bind small bunches of flowers together with an elastic band. This is better than string as the elastic will adjust to the shrinking size of the stems as they dry. Any dry place out of direct sunlight will do to hang your flowers. (Keeping them out of the sun is the best way to preserve the flower's color.) Depending on the bloom, it can take a week or more for flowers to dry (flowers that are successfully dried will have papery petals and stiff stems).

The Best Flowers for Air Drying

Amaranth

Baby's Breath, Gypsophila paniculata

Cock's Comb, Celosia

Globe thistle, Echinops

Gomphrena

Hydrangea

Lady's Mantle, Alchemilla mollis

Larkspur, Consolida ambigua

Lavender, Lavandula

Roses, Rosa

Sea Holly, Eryngium

Statice sinuatum

Strawflower, Xerochrysum bracteatum

Yarrow, Achillea

A few of the many flowers that can be dried using silica gel or sand. Top row left to right: Peony, Foxglove, Bachelor's Button. Bottom Row left to right: Calendula, Delphinium and snapdragons.

Silica Gel or Silca Sand

I haven't used silica gel in years, but I do still have a box of it somewhere in the basement. Silica gel is useful for fleshy or many-petaled flowers with a high moisture content that doesn't respond well to air-drying techniques. Silica (silicon dioxide) absorbs and holds moisture. You may be most familiar with the little pouches of silica that are often found at the bottom of paper boxes. Silica gel can be found at Michel's, Lee Valley Tools and online.

To dry flowers using this method, place an inch or so of silica gel at the bottom of an airtight plastic container. Remove the flowers from their stems and place facing upright into the silica gel. Long flowers like Amaranth can be placed on their sides. Sprinkle a little more of the gel in among the individual flower petals. Seal the box and place it in a dry spot out of the sun. Check on the flowers every few days to see how they are drying. It may take as little as a few days to a week. (Note: flowers left too long in the gel may become so brittle they will fall apart).

I have never tried it, but apparently, you can speed up the process of drying flowers in silica sand with the microwave. Check out this FTD tutorial for more details.

A Few of the Many Flowers that might be Dried with Silica

Bachelor's Button, Centaurea cyanus

Calendula, Calendula officinalis

Carnation, Dianthus caryophyllus

Delphinium

Feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium

Foxglove, Digitalis

Marigold, Tagetes

Peony, Paeonia

Rose, Rosa

Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia

Snapdragon, Antirrhinum

Sunflower, Helianthus

How Long do Dried Flowers Last?

I have had dried flowers in a glass-fronted cabinet in the living room for over a year. As long as you place them in a dry location out of direct sunlight, wreaths last for months. Dust seems to their main enemy.

Growing Three of my Favourites

If I had to choose three of my favourite flowers to work with, they'd be Strawflowers, Statice and Gomphrena (also known as Globe Amaranth).

Strawflowers (seen above) are easy to grow yourself from seed.

Strawflowers, Helichrysum bracteatum are wildflowers native to Australia. These sun-loving flowers are actually short-lived perennials (USDA zones 10-11) but are generally grown as annuals in more northern climate zones like mine. They are easy to grow from seed in any hot, dry site. Height: 30-40 cm (12-18 inches) Spread: 24-30 cm (10-12 inches).

Here in Canada, where the growing season is shorter, it is a good idea to start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before the last spring frost. If you are in a more temperate zone, you can plant seeds outdoors after all danger of frost has passed.

Note: If you aren't able to grow your own Strawflowers, you may still be able to find flowers to dry in the fall. Look for them at your local Farmer's Market or even at your neighbourhood grocery store. 

The petals of Strawflowers have a papery texture even before they are dried. The stem is quite fleshy in contrast and becomes a bit brittle when dried. 

Harvest strawflowers before the flowers are fully open. The blooms will continue to open during the drying process. (Quite often the flower heads are cut from their stems and a florist's wire is inserted into the flower to act as a stem. If you were preparing the dried flowers for sale or if the flowers will be handled a lot, I would think about replacing the dried stems with florist's wire.)

Statice, Limonium Sinuatum is not the most attractive of plants, but it does dry really well. I usually buy inexpensive bunches at the Farmer's Market. If you want to grow it yourself, Statice can also be grown easily from seed.

Statice, Limonium Sinuatum: There are a number of varieties of Statice or Limonium. Limonium sinuatum is a tender perennial (annual here) that has papery blooms on stiff green stems. Full sun.  This plant prefers well-drained, sandy loam with dry to medium moisture. Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost date or sow directly outdoors after all danger of frost has passed. Height : 45-60 cm (18-24 inches), Spread: 38-45 cm (15-18 inches). Hardy USDA zones: 8-10.

Globe Amaranth, Gomphrena has clover-like flowers. Pinch back young plants to encourage a bushier habit. Attractive to butterflies. For the best results, harvest flowers as soon as they are open. Stripe off any foliage and hang them upsidedown in a dry place out of direct sunlight. Gomphrena seeds have low germination rates, so soak seeds first for best results. Poor soil with good drainage is best. Full sun. Height : 45-60 cm (18-24 inches), Spread: 38-45 cm (15-18 inches). Hardy USDA zones: 8-10.

I am looking forward to ordering some seeds and experimenting more with dried flowers in the new year. 

Looking back at 2019 and Garden Trends for 2020

Every year around this time I review the posts from the previous year to assist me in mapping out an editorial calendar going forward. It's an exercise that helps me to know what was of interest to readers and what fell flat.

For you, the reader, this is a chance to catch up on any popular posts you might have missed. So without further ado, your favourite garden in 2019 was (drumroll please)...

Cynthia McAlindon's Shade Garden in Oakville Ontario. It's a backyard garden with a quiet, yet pleasing palette that shows just what can be accomplished with a modest-sized backyard that has part-to-full shade conditions.

Coming in second was a formal garden that also had a soft, restrained use of color. Here the design of the garden offered readers pleasing vignettes and an abundance of ideas.

A Formal Edwardian Garden in Rosedale

There was a tie for third place. The small town garden filled with Hollyhocks very narrowly edged out a Small Courtyard Garden. Ironically one of the two third-place winners was a country garden and the other was a garden in Canada's largest city.

Hollyhocks were the star in the first of the two properties:

A Garden filled with Hollyhocks

A Courtyard perfect for Entertaining

The city garden was a space designed for relaxing and entertaining with the garden as a backdrop. The main features of this garden were a large flagstone patio with lots of seating and a small shed complete with a bar.

The low-maintenance plantings flanked either side of a charcoal-coloured fence. My favourite feature was the moss dog peeking into the small waterfall and pond.

In what I will refer to as the "how-to" category, the most popular post was My Weed Management Strategies.  Though my garden is by no means weed-free, over the years I have discovered ways to keep weeds down to a dull roar.

The other post with good readership was the first of a two-part series on moving and dividing perennials. I'm always worried when I decide to write about such dry topics, but readers don't seem to mind the useful information.

Moving and Dividing Perennials, Part 1 (tips on when and how to move/divide) 
and Part 2 (all the basics).

One of my regrets about last year's blog posts was the limited number of plant profiles I did. This post on Siberian Irises and flowers that provide Mid-Summer Color actually were well-received, so hopefully, I can make up for that oversight in 2020.

New Perennials for 2019

Finally, the subject of new introductions from Proven Winners has been a reader favourite for a couple of years. I can understand the appeal of these blog posts–new plants promise improved performance and features like larger flowers or smaller overall size.  It's a subject I'll repeat again in 2020, but I think I will try to balance what's "new" with information on plants that are tried and true. 

Now I'll move along to trends for the coming year and beyond. I'll touch briefly the background for each trend first and then tell you a bit more about the trend itself. In a couple of cases, my examples may introduce you to a few Instagram accounts or YouTube channels you might like to follow.

Private garden in Oakville Ontario.

 Trend # 1 Smaller Gardens

In Canada, Baby Boomers account for 27% of the population. Of that number, 16% are already over the age of 65. In ten years, that statistic will jump to 20% (no doubt, there are similar numbers available for the States). 

One might suspect that retiring Boomers would have more time to devote to pastimes like gardening. While that may be true, ageing gardeners seem to be all too aware that gardening is hard physical work. What I seem to be witnessing is increasing numbers of Baby Boomers trading in larger properties for smaller homes/gardens with less maintenance.

There is a second aspect to this trend. In Canada, statistics suggest that the median lot size for a new single-family detached home has dropped in size. This means homeowners are working with smaller yards/gardens.

Smaller Gardens Equal Smaller Plants

Modest yards mean that gardeners are looking for small-scale shrubs. Growers have responded with new dwarf versions of classic favourites. This trend to producing smaller plants is something that has been around for a few years now and will continue into the near future. We can also expect to see a preference for breeding plants that are less demanding and relatively low-maintenance.

'BoBo' is one of my favourite dwarf hydrangeas.

Among my favourite shrubs are a number of dwarf hydrangeas. Here 'Bobo' is illuminated by the sun and 'Little Lime' is the rose-colored hydrangea just behind it.

The flower-filled veggie garden.

Trend # 2 Moving away from Traditional Vegetable Gardens

While Baby Boomers have always grown a variety of flowers and vegetables, younger generations seem to be much more focused on growing edibles. Homegrown fruit and veggies have a practical appeal. You know how and where they were produced when you grow them yourself. Growing your own food also saves money. 

Here are two twists on the traditional veggie patch I've noted.

Unusual Edibles

Heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables have been popular for a number of years, but adventuresome gardeners are now experimenting with growing global types of produce. Spearheading this movement is Canadian garden writer Niki Jabbour. Recently her book Veggie Garden Remix won a prestigious award from the American Horticultural Society.

The Vegetable Garden that looks like a Flower Garden

Companion planting is nothing new, but take a look at these two pictures of Niki Jabbour's vegetable garden in Nova Scotia (here and here). Is this a vegetable garden or a flower garden? There are sunflowers, nasturtiums, flowering borage, zinnias and the long trailing panicles of Love-Lies-Bleeding. The flowers are there to attract pollinators and deter pests, but they also transform something practical into something beautiful. 

Here's another example– this time in Maine. On Alison's Instagram account named Finch and Folly there is again a wild mix of flowers and edibles (here and here). Every winter she draws up the prettiest watercolor plans for her summer garden.

Behind this explosion of flowers in the traditional vegetable patch is a deep concern for the decline of pollinators. In particular, climate change, parasites, pathogens and pesticides used in agriculture have all had a detrimental impact on numbers of honeybees, bumblebees and wild bee species.  

Gardening immerses you in the natural world, so it's no surprise that gardeners care deeply about environmental issues like this. Creating flower-rich habitats, even in a vegetable garden, is a trend that is likely to continue. 

One of the many YouTubers who post regular videos on houseplants.

Trend# 3 The Growing Popularity of Houseplants

The high cost of real estate has kept Millennials indoors where they "garden" with houseplants. This generation loves to search the internet for rare and exotic specimens to add to collections. Botanical names aren't geeky. Instead, they add to a plant's prestige. 

Decorating with houseplants has become hugely fashionable in the last few years. What makes this trend new and fresh is the large scale and the number of houseplants. When you squeeze 500 plants into a small apartment as Nick Pileggi as done (see above), your indoor space intentionally becomes a jungle.   

Another YouTuber who has become very popular is Amanda of Planterina. Amanda's a bit wacky, but viewers like her all the more for it.

Using houseplants to create an outdoor jungle.

Taking Houseplants Outdoors 

Moving houseplants outdoors for a summer vacation is nothing new. What I think is trendy is the scale and number of the houseplants being moved outside. 

If you have a moment, watch the video tour of Amanda's summer porch. It's an original take on gardening outdoors using houseplants. Amanda literally brings a garden right up to her back door.

Trend #4 An increased interest in Native Plants

Pollinators have given gardeners a whole new reason to take an interest in native plants. To attract bees and butterflies common to your state or province you need to plant specific types of plants. 

Butterflies and bees prefer certain flowers as sources of nectar. Butterflies also lay eggs on specific "host" plants. Last summer I noticed more butterflies in my garden. What made the difference? I have incorporated more native plants.

Trend #5 The Garden as a Bird and Wildlife-friendly Space

As the CBC reports in this article, North America has lost 3 billion birds since 1970. That's a staggering number! 

These weren't rare or endangered species, but rather familiar backyard birds like sparrows, juncos, starlings and warblers. This loss has ripple effects in local ecosystems as well. Birds perform vital roles in managing pests, pollinating flowers and spreading seeds. 

The Beauty bush where two Catbirds made their nest last summer.

 Do you see the nest hidden in the branches?

 Some bright blue plastic adorns the otherwise neutral nest. There are three babies crowded into the nest (though only two are visible).

The shy, grey-colored Catbird loves to mimic the sounds made by other animals. The cry it typically makes sounds a little like that of a domestic cat–hence the name.

What has caused the decline? The answer is not simple. A number of issues such as loss of habitat, urban sprawl, the fragmentation of forests, pesticide use and even the carnage caused by domestic cats. 

Already there is an army of volunteers who participate in annual backyard bird counts, but is there any further role we gardeners might play? I think this decline in bird populations is something that is going to garnish more and more attention in the coming years.

A nest in a garden I visited in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

2020–the start of a brand new decade! Despite some problems, I have a good feeling about what the next ten years will bring our way.

Meet Bonnie Prince Charlie

Dearest Reader,

Thank you for stopping by. It's been many months since I last posted. A special thanks to all those who left comments or emailed me in my absence. I greatly appreciated the encouragement to return to blogging. After ten years (soon eleven) I was feeling a little burned out. I needed a break from social media, so I took some time for myself.

To be honest, I haven't entirely missed sitting at my computer writing and editing photos. In the late summer and fall, the garden kept me pretty busy. As the days got colder my focus shifted inside. Our quirky, old house is a fixer-upper that still needs work. This fall I tackled several projects– the biggest of which was our front and upstairs hallways.

There are a number of good reasons that I don't write a home decor blog. For one thing, I don't have the proper camera equipment for decent interior shots. More importantly, I am not at all convinced that my offbeat sense of interior decor is something anyone else might aspire to.

The first thing any good interior designer would have recommended is to paint out the dark woodwork in the front hallway. Certainly, it would help give our one-hundred-plus-year-old house a fresh, modern look–but even though I knew it was the tasteful thing to do, I just couldn't bring myself to paint the vintage woodwork (with one exception). Years ago, some mischevious children carved their initials and other crude drawings into the beadboard at the foot of the staircase, so I had to paint it out of necessity. Still, I stopped short of slapping white paint on everything.

By far the biggest part of the hallway renovation were the walls. Rather than remove old wallpaper, some previous owner stuccoed plaster over the paper. Then they painted the walls with a color I'd describe as "mochaccino". Underneath all that beige paint, the stucco was really crude with bumps, lumps and valleys.

To get rid of the entire mess, we would have had to strip the walls back to the studs. The construction is lath and plaster, so it would have been a huge job. Instead I elected to sand the bumps and fill the divots in the plasterwork. Even so, it was a really big job! Imagine, if you will, the clouds of plaster dust that have been a big part of our lives all through the fall!

You may note that I need to do a bit of touchup on the edge of the white paint. The dratted painter's tape ripped away some paint when I tried to remove it.

I painted the walls creamy-white. A darker color might have sat next to the dark woodwork better, but a soft white suited my contemporary artwork nicely.

The work is still ongoing. There is one large wall that needs to be completed. The pine floor and staircase need to be refinished (as evidenced in the photo above) and a runner needs to be installed on the staircase (I'd love to leave the stairs bare, but the dog's claws are really hard on the soft pine). Hopefully, this work can all be completed before the gardening season commences.

In other news, we have a new pup! Meet Charlie (named after the legendary Scottish figure "Bonnie Prince Charlie".

Scrap with Piper when he was just a pup.

About a year ago now, our senior dog Scrap passed away. The loss was hardest on Piper, who was then three years old. Scrap was a mentor and Piper's best friend in the world. Over time we all made adjustments, but daily life never felt quite the same.

Despite the unease, I resolved to stick with just one dog. My husband retires in a year and one pet would make our plans to to travel across Canada so much easier. I'd tell my husband to remind me of this resolve in one breath, and in the other, I'd scroll through online listings for Shetland Sheepdog puppies.

We finally went to see a puppy in the late summer, but something didn't feel right. I didn't like to number of dogs in the house or the size of the kennels. The puppy, in question, was scruffy looking and seemed disinterested in us. So we came home disappointed, but feeling like we had made the right choice.

A month or more passed before then I saw another listing for CKC registered pups in the city where we live. There was just one male pup left in the litter.

Charlie not long after we brought him home.

It was love at first sight when the breeder handed me little prince Charlie. He snuggled his warm little body right into the crock of my neck and fell asleep while we chatted about Shetland Sheepdogs with the breeder. 

A few weeks later we brought Charlie home. 

Every dog has a distinct personality.

Charlie is a quick learner. I don't think we've ever had such an easy time housetraining a puppy. After just two weeks, he had only a couple of accidents. At 18 weeks, Charlie obeys hand/voice commands to sit, lay, jump and rollover. We are still working on "stay".

Charlie taste-testing hostas in November (which thankfully are not poisonous).

As with most puppies, Charlie chews everything! Most worrisome is his fondness for eating vegetation. There are lots of poisonous plants in my garden. Hopefully, it's a phase he grows out of.

If not, I may have to rethink perennials like foxgloves. 

And how is Piper handling the little interloper? 

His excitement for having a new buddy made me glad I had reversed my decision to get a second dog. Piper loves Charlie and Charlie dotes on him. It's cute to see how much Charlie takes all his queues from the older dog.

That's not to say that Charlie doesn't give his elder some attitude. Piper's magnificent tail is looking a bit worse for wear after all the games of tug-of-war.

"Hey, let go of my tail!"

Like a Sumo wrestler, roly-poly Charlie hip-checks Piper and knocks him to the ground. In a wide-open show of teeth, big dog and little pup "gurr" playfully at one another and tumble around. Poor Piper puts up with a lot of love! 

So now you're all caught up on all my news. Thanks again for returning to my blog. I hope to resume regular posts going forward.