Everlastings...

You all know how much I love my flowers dried.

I like them dried just as much as like them fresh, and can't ever

toss them when their freshness starts to fade.



Thus...I have them everywhere in my home.

In every single room.

I thought I would share some of them here today.

The flowers below are daffodils

white roses in the studio

 Endless Summer hydrangeas picked a little early for drying well.

But I still love the look.

The Limelight hydrangea before it started turning it's trademark green hue.

In it's early stage it has a lovely pink cast to it. It is difficult to dry in this stage because

hydrangeas dry better if left on the bush awhile.

An Endless Summer blossom hanging in the mudroom.

Ornamental oregano

I often get asked how I dry the flowers I grow, so I thought I would take this

opportunity to explain what works good for me.

I believe that the reason I have good luck drying my garden flowers is
 mainly because I live in a relatively dry climate.
The part of Idaho I live in is 5000 feet above sea level and even though I live in the mountains,
it is still considered high desert.
We get very little rainfall here, and our moisture comes mainly in Winter in the form of snow.
The air is extremely dry here and I have the wrinkles
to prove it!!!

I may have dry brittle hair and skin that could sand wood smooth...
but hey...I can dry pretty flowers!

I rarely hang flowers to dry.
I usually just leave them in their container, in the water, and they dry naturally.

In the next few photos I will show you some of the garden blooms in their dried form first
 and then show you a picture of the same flowers when they were fresh
so you get an idea of how easily they dry here.

 This pot of  hydrangeas now sit in my bathroom.

And this is how they looked when fresh this past Summer sitting on the coffee table.

I'm always surprised to see the many different colors they turn when dry,

 depending on when they are cut.

A bouquet of Bonica roses in the family bath.

The same roses fresh.

Angel Face roses

A little box of mixed garden roses and Annabelle hydrangeas on kitchen table.

The picture below shows them again, but also shows how many bouquets I have all over the

the kitchen and in the mudroom beyond.

I told you I can't throw them out.

Hmmm...this would make an interesting episode for 'Hoarders'.

I haven't seen one yet about women who save every flower they grow.

Same arrangement in living room.

I loved it fresh and I love it dried.

Below is my favorite bouquet of dried roses in the whole house.

I enjoyed this fresh bouquet for days.

 I don't know what it is about this pretty little Bonica rose that makes me love it so much,

 but I do!

All of the arrangements shown in this post were dried sitting in their water.

 When they start the drying process I usually tip the pot and drain the water out,

 because it can have a bad odor about it.

 I find that draining the water out before the flowers are totally dry, keep the flowers intact better.

 All the arrangements are fragile, and I try not to handle them too much.

For Christmas this year I made several different calendars for my children and mother and mother-in-law from the pictures of my favorite 'everlastings'.

What a fun (and time consuming) and expensive)) project to work on for my family.

Next year I hope to find a less expensive program to create them on.

 If any of you may know of one, I would so appreciate any information you could send me. 

For me,

these little bouquets I have shown in this post 

are year-round reminders of the joy I get from tending my garden from year to year.

And I look forward to the 'everlastings' of 2011.