Drying Flowers In Midcoast Maine

January 10, 2010 by georgeandkristin

Harvesting flowers throughout the growing season is twofold. You prevent unwanted self seeds from taking over precious garden space plus you get to preserve the beauty of the flowers all year long by drying them. Now that winter has settled in here in Maine this is a good time to replace tired floral arrangements.

A Sampling Of Our Harvests

We’ve collected over 20 varieties of flowers throughout the growing season and hang them in a cool and dry place.

Chinese Lanterns In The Garden

Chinese Lanterns are traditionally harvested when they are orange but we pick them from when they are green, then gold, straight through until they nearly turn burnt orange.

Ready To Harvest Straw Flowers

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Nigella

Nigella’s “love-in-a-mist” ballon-shaped seed pods with its delicate and lacy greenery is an all time favorite.

Lanterns With Artemisia

Silvery Artemisia harvested before it goes to seed offers flowing textures that brighten the color and enhance the shape of these delicate yet structured papery orange chinese lanterns.

These tired arrangements are in need of refreshing.

Cornucopia Of Flowers

The soft lime green color of the Annabelle Hydrangeas have faded along with the beautiful dark cherry and lime tones of the PeeGees. Hydrangeas are also harvested in stages to capitalize on all of their varying shades of color.

Spray With some Fading Echinops

Dried flowers add beauty, texture, and color anywhere. In this example, a low ceiling did not provide enough room atop kitchen cabinets for baskets or other large decorative items, so a collection of dried flowers from our gardens filled the space nicely.

Dressing Up Cabinets

Even during the coldest and grayest days of our long Maine winters, these dried flowers bring warmth and cheer. They are also a daily reminder of brighter, warmer and longer days.