How to Care for Everlasting Dried Flowers
With a little bit of love and attention dried flowers will provide you with many years of joy. For the most part they will retain their beautiful subtle tones over the years and any slight softening of colours will simply add to their ethereal beauty.
That being said, there are many ways in which, without intention, your dried flowers will perish. They are, of course, a natural material and if exposed to the correct environment will deteriorate as they would when going through their normal cycle of life.
Here are the main points to consider when storing and displaying dried flowers:
exposure to sunlight
presence of damp or moisture
extended periods of high temperatures
Let’s dive into these points in more detail.
Direct exposure to Sunlight
Direct is the key point to consider here, my studio is a light filled room with two skylights and wide windows sitting alongside bifold doors. Despite this, I manage to successfully dry many blooms by hanging them on my back wall which importantly, from about August onwards gets no direct sunlight. And whilst the room is full of light, it remains relatively cool for the majority of time because its’s open plan in nature. Flowers that are hung to dry in direct sunlight may turn brittle, making them hard to work with later on. In some instance the colour may fade from the flowers which you’ll want to try to avoid as much as possible. There is one exception to this which is if you are attempting to naturally bleach flowers such as ammi. My good friend Kim of Pig Pen Flowers managed to bleach her ammi without it becomes to brittle by hanging swathes of the plant in her outside shed which features large windows. My hypothesis here is that whilst there was plenty of direct sunlight the shed would have cooled down greatly at night, removing the effect that heat has stems. When hanging a piece of dried flower art, make sure that the wall from which is it hanging is out of direct sunlight, this will ensure the blooms retain their colour for longer.
Extended periods of high heat
Which leads me on to the issue of high heat. The first year I began working with dried flowers, I filled the back wall of my lean to conservatory (which is where my studio now stands) with bunches of dried flowers. Imagine my dismay when a month later, at the height of a balmy summer, I went to work with the flowers only to find they were so fragile they practically disintegrated in my hands. Heat really does affect the quality of dried flowers, not so much of a problem for those blooms that you have already created with but for those that are awaiting their turn the heat will cause heads to snap off with rigid motionless stalks. Aim to store your flowers somewhere with an even temperature to maximise their lifespan. I store my flowers in the cupboard under the stairs and in sealed boxes in our loft.
Store Away from Damp and Moisture
Exposure to moisture of any kind will be the end of your dried flowers. This is why its important, when preparing your flowers for drying that you strip the stalks properly and don’t bunch things too tightly. Storage wise, do consider the environment your flowers will be in, if you choose your loft for example make sure that the space is dry as they can hold damp. And when displaying dried flowers avoid places such as the bathroom or if you have an older house, away from drafty windows where damp may seep in from outside. For this reason, I recommend that you avoid garages or sheds as storage options, particularly over Winter month, the damp levels will be too much for your sensitive stems to cope with,
Keep an eye on your stash. Check in on them to see how they are fairing and if necessary change their location. I tend to store mine in big cardboard boxes or air tight plastic crates. Separate bunches with tissue paper and be careful not to pack things in to tightly to ensure the heads aren’t damaged.
Check out my other resources on dried flowers here for more tips and advice on everlastings.
