Dried flowers have a reputation for being fragile and dusty. Some of that reputation is earned, mostly by dried flowers that were not dried properly in the first place. When stems are hung correctly and dried slowly in a cool, dark room, the result is something that holds its colour and shape for a long time. Here is how to look after them once they are in your home.
Keep them out of direct sunlight ¶
Sunlight fades dried flowers faster than anything else. A dried statice posy in a south-facing window will lose its colour within a few weeks. The same posy in a north-facing room or a hallway will hold its colour for a year or more. This is the single most important thing. If you want dried flowers in a sunny room, accept that they will fade, or choose varieties that fade gracefully, like strawflower and nigella.
Do not put them near moisture ¶
Dried flowers reabsorb moisture from the air, which causes them to go limp and sometimes to develop mould. Bathrooms and kitchens are not good places for dried arrangements. A sitting room or bedroom is better. If you live somewhere very humid, a small amount of silica gel near the arrangement can help.
Dust gently, do not wash ¶
Dust accumulates on dried flowers over time. The best way to remove it is with a very soft brush or a hairdryer on the coolest setting held at a distance. Do not try to wash dried flowers. Water will rehydrate the stems and they will not dry back to the same shape.
What we dry and why ¶
We hang stems in the back room from July onwards, starting with statice and strawflower, which dry quickly and hold their colour well. Zinnias and dahlias take longer and are more variable in how they come out. Nigella seed heads are reliable and look good for a long time. We only dry flowers from the current season, which means the dried work we sell in autumn and winter is made from stems that were growing a few months earlier.
A well-made dried arrangement is not a compromise. It is a different kind of thing from fresh flowers, with its own qualities. The ones we make in autumn are still on walls in people's homes the following summer, which is a good result for something that started as a stem in a field.