Best Way to Refresh Your Home with Dried Herbs and Flowers

Because so many herbs dry well, dried herb arrangements, and rings, wreaths, and potpourri including herbs are all very popular. (For a few herbs, the drying process sometimes even accentuates their aroma.) You can use them as a source of sweet smells in midwinter, releasing delicate scents of summer to bring back memories of warmer days. Some plants may be chosen purely for decoration, but scented plants such as lavender and roses are the most important. Scented herbs whose foliage works well with dried arrangements include bay, costmary, eucalyptus, rosemary, thyme, and sage. Herb flowers that keep their colour well when dried include feverfew, tansy, and calendula.

A few special techniques ate used to preserve flowers for craft uses. If the flowers will be used in potpourri, remove the leaves to help them dry faster. If only the petals will be used, remove the petals from the flower heads before drying. Rose petals, the staple of most potpourri, should be laid out on trays or screens. Dry flowers away from light to preserve their colour.

If the flowers are to be used in a vase or in hanging arrangements, it is best to wire them with florists’ wire before drying them, since they will be too brittle to be easily wired once they are dry. First, cut off most of the flower’s stem, leaving only about 2.5 cm (1 inch). Form a false stem by poking a length of wire cut to about 25 cm (10 inches) horizontally through the base of the flower. Then bend the wire back and secure it, coiled around itself, just below the head of the flower.

Other techniques for drying involve immersing the herb in drying powders such as borax (or clean sand mixed with borax), or more expensive but faster-acting silica gel powder. (If you buy silica gel crystals, these can be crushed with a rolling pin.) These methods are useful for fussy or delicate blossoms such as calendulas. The amount of time needed will depend on the size and type of flower. For example, calendulas need up to two weeks in borax to dry completely.

To store whole dried flowers for later use, wrap them carefully in tissue paper, place carefully in shoe boxes, then label. Flowers and petals for potpourri should be stored in labelled, airtight containers away from light.