Unique Flowers for Dried Stem Production
It is no secret that you can create revenue with dried flower bunches and everlasting bouquets.
If you're artistic, consider pressed flower frames. Try harvesting blooms for soaps, scrubs, and beauty products if you grow organically. This is a great collaboration idea for local soap makers! You could also plan products or classes and prepare harvested stems for autumn/winter wreaths.
The art of flower preservation has advanced as trends have changed. Options like resin objects, floral confetti, pressed cake flowers, dried bunches for home décor, and mini-dried bundles have exploded onto the scene as well as our social media feeds. Traditional methods like hang drying and pressing have maintained popularity and are being used in inventive new ways.
Some cut flower varieties you'll find in standard production are:
Larkspur
Strawflower
Pampas
Amaranthus (pendant varieties)
Yarrow
Centaurea
Craspedia
Delphinium
Statice
Gomphrena
Nigella
These are perennial favorites that have proven time and again their merit as both strong producers and lovely dried products.
When I decided to pursue more unique offerings, I dove into old floral and herbal guides and farmers' logs from previous years from other farmer friends. In this article, you'll find some of the unexpected and incredibly unique varieties I've found and trialed during the 2022 season.
Stems to Hang Dry
Celosia
Dwarf and Sunday varieties as well as variegated (an antique type from the 1800s) and kumquat. These series and types offer bright and surprising colors without taking up a ton of growing space.
Orach and Atriplex
Plants produce massive clusters of seed heads that range from apple green to honey red.
Flax
While known predominantly as an edible or textile crop, the 'Bubble' variety makes an incredible amount of bubbly seed pods that sun bleach beautifully!
Amaranth
Commonly seen in pink and green pendant forms, it also comes in spike forms in shades of deep red, yellow, and mustard, a pendant form, pink-green bicolor, and mammoth varieties.
Jewels of Opar
This common bedding plant puts up massive quantities of seed heads that resemble fairy wands. The seeds look like jewel-tone droplets that sparkle in the sun and dry beautifully.
Figwort
This North American native puts up masses of smoky-scented blooms that turn into candy apple green teardrop-shaped pods.
Silene
Also known as "Blushing Lanterns," this plant produces cream and blush veined balloons on slender stems. After they drop their petals (a delicate single row of white), the seed pods form inside the balloon.
Nigella
While the papery pods of 'Cramer's Plum' and 'Deft Blue' are well known, the "Transformer' variety gives acidic yellow flowers followed by bright green pods. While often seen bleached, they keep their color intact if dried in a dark space. If they are left to dry on the plant, they become a sun-bleached beige color.
Queen Anne's Lace
The seed pods turn into architectural, branching stems with an airy shape, unlike Dara (Chocolate Lace Flower).
Rose Hips
While most species roses produce hips abundantly in the autumn, a lot of newer cultivars aren’t bred for hip production. Wild or single flower cultivars can be planted and left to their own devices all season and pay this negligence back with bushels of brightly hued hips perfect for drying.
Ranunculus
Who doesn't love these papery beauties? They become absolutely ethereal once dried but tend to be incredibly delicate.
Rudbeckia
Between the echinacea-style centers and the vibrant ray petals, they dry incredibly and keep their funky vibes.
Chinese Forget Me Nots
I grow the pink variety, but all types dry to a soft periwinkle blue.
Tulips
The most unlikely flower from this year's trial, tulips—especially double varieties—dry spectacularly.
Rose Flowers
Through experimentation, I have found several varieties of roses that you can dry at the peak of their bloom with fabulous results.
Viridiflora Ch.
This is a true everlasting rose, which starts as a deep green and fades to a tawny red on the bush. If cut, they keep their color consistently and look as fresh as the day they were cut. Dark, cupped varieties like 'Munstead Wood' make a stunning, nearly black, dried specimen.
Prosperity/Pink Prosperity
Antique blush spray roses that keep its cupped blooms compact as if frozen.
Blush Noisette
Another antique blush spray rose that takes on a lavender cast when dried.
Herbs for Drying
Herbs have been dried in barns and over hearths for centuries. While beautiful and fragrant fresh, they make lovely scented additions as dried stems.
Verbena bonariensis
Blooms retain a softer periwinkle blue when dried.
Fennel
The bronze variety produces a lovely smokey foliage and texturally interesting seed pods.
Dill
The pods remain vibrant and scented once dried.
Tansy & Feverfew
All varieties dry and hold well. 'Tentra' produces fluffy white buttons reminiscent of baby's breath while 'Vegmo' blooms bright yellow discs with the shield form of Yarrow.
I have absolutely fallen in love with dried flowers this year! I hope this inspires you to experiment with your own flowers and will help you find some new ways to share the love we all harbor for them with your local community.
