" The author of the following text is a reader of the magazine Provision for the Garden - Emilia Szczepaniak from Zawichost. "
I really like to fill my eyes with flowering plants. I often bring the cut ones home with me and put them in vases. When the days are getting shorter and colder, and nature falls asleep, I take out the plants I have collected and dried in summer.I create beautiful compositions that will decorate my house throughout the winter.
You can preserve almost all flowers, but I have tried out that it is easiest to dry Helichrysum, lavender, yarrow, hydrangea, giant garlic, dryflower and goldenrod. In spring, I also sow a mixture of annual ornamental grasses.They are a grateful material for processing, because they do not lose charming details during maintenance.
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(zdj .: Fotolia.com) |
Flowers can be dried in many ways, but I will tell you about two that I checked.
- The herbal method, also known as the traditional one, is the simplest. Hang the freshly cut plants in small bouquets "up with the roots". There should be gaps between the bundles.The flowers will remain their natural colors if kept in a dry place with limited access to light.The process takes from one to two weeks.
- Drying with desiccants.I read that you can buy specially designed silica gels, but I use semolina successfully. I pour it on the bottom of the box (about 2 cm thick). On top of that, I arrange individual flowers and cover them with another layer of groats. I put the whole thing in a ventilated place.The period of drying with this method lasts about half a month, and the flowers also retain their beautiful color.Preserved plants look impressive, but before creating a composition, they can be dyed or bleached as desired.
The whole process, from picking the plants to drying them and creating different decorations, is really fun.
