Dried Flowers, Foliage and Seed Pods
Dried flowers, foliage and seed pods are increasingly popular with floral artists who are always on the look out for something new to add to their tasteful arrangements.
All of these are dried by hanging in bunches in a shaded, breezy area although some, such as the seed pods of poppies, can be left on the plants until they are almost dry and then brought in for the final stages.
Flowers suitable for drying include: roses in bud, larkspur, lavender, static, helichrysums, alliums, bergamot, elecampane, teasel and yarrow.
Foliage for drying includes: artemisia, bay, all varieties of sage, thymes, santolina, and numerous varieties of tree leaves such as the ever popular eucalyptus.
Seed heads used in floral art include: alexanders, alliums, angelica, fennel, aniseed, nigella, poppies, sorrel, sweet cicely, honesty, iris, barley wheat, ornamental grasses and many more though never enough to keep floral artists completely satisfied.
Where Should be used
Dried flowers and foliage for use on greeting cards, book marks and as framed pictures are usually dried flat out between a few absorbent sheets of paper, a complete newspaper is ideal.
Where should be spreaded
The flowers or their single petals and leaves should be lightly pressed flat in the center half of the newspaper and when the sheet is full, carefully fold the newspaper closed and then lay it underneath a carpet, preferably somewhere that it gets walked on regularly as this pressure keeps the material flat.
How Long It will Take to Dry
The pressed leaves and flowers can take upto on month to completely dry out and very little color should be lost from the flowers and foliage in the process. The pressed material should be handled with care as it will be quite fragile to the touch. You can then use tweezers and a very light dab of colorless glue to fix them on to greeting cards or whatever in the design of your choice. Especially manufactured “flower presses” can occasionally be found in “hobby” shops but these are quite costly and very limited in size. The newspaper method is far cheaper, simpler and more versatile. Flowers and leaves can also be pressed between the pages of large, heavy, hardback books but as they can spoil the printed pages don’t use a book with which you, or anyone else in the values.
