My daughter and I are keenly watching our precious peonies with anticipation, counting the buds and waiting for them to burst into blousy blooms. They last such a short time, that this year I think we will try drying them for the first time. They put on their best show at the time of year that she came into our lives, so it would be so wonderful to have them in the depths of winter.
I spotted @myofthebeholder's photo this week, and she graciously allowed us to share! Thank you @myofthebeholder!
I asked her if she had any floral drying tips..
"One tip would be to give the flowers/herbs a gentle shake before hanging upside down to get rid of any wee beasties that may be lurking & be patient!" 🐝🐛🐞🕷
Here are our top tips!
- Cut your stems when the dampness of morning has passed, and before the sun hits it's highest spot.
- Cut your stems to around 6"/ 15cm
- Remove any excess leaves with a sharp pruning knife
- Cut the stem end clean
- Only use blooms that are pest and blemish free
- Cut buds too for a variation in size for your display
- Hang to air dry with a looped piece of twine and a section of bamboo/stick
- Only group 3 stems at once, let them breathe!
Here is how to pop them onto a rack - push the loop through a space in your rack, then whilst supporting your precious blooms, push your holding stick through the loop. Angle this across the bars, to hold the bouquet.
We think that our pot racksand drying rackswould be perfect for this!
In fact there are 11 things that they are perfect for!
Here are our 'Drying Rack Top Tips' -
- When drying washing on your rack, fold it first, saves on ironing (if you do it)
- If you are off on a winter walk, lay your scarves, welly socks, gloves and hats out on the rack to warm through before you leave!
- Kiddy craft? Use our rack to dry paintings, papier mâché, découpage and much more!
- Dry citrus peel slowly on it, rested on greaseproof paper, to make a natural kindling, pine cones work too!
- Dry out kindling sticks, ready for a warming winter fire.
- Lay your washing-up on it, to air dry. Or bits from the dishwasher that haven't steam dried, lay a t-towel down first.
- The flat surface is great for drying bulkier items slowly, like pillows, duvets folded, cat & dog beds - we have even seen a horse blanket being done this way!
- Slow dry your glut of summer herbs for the winter months on parchment, use our Pot Rackto slowly dry flowers!
- Dry seeds from the garden and store for the next season - free flowers! On the top layer, not too hot.
- Try Propagating seeds in trays on your rack or pot shelf, if they require a heated propagator you could save money and energy this way!
- Dry your delicate woollens - after hand washing let them drip dry flat on our rack, over the bath (or kitchen sink if using a Half Size Drying Rack), then easily transfer the rack to the top of your range for the last drying stage.
< Do please send in your drying rack pics to add to our growing community gallery!
Katy x
