Growing Annual Everlasting Flowers

Summer never fades away when you preserve garden blooms for year-round display. The best flowers for drying are everlastings, a special group of annuals that can be air-dried without losing their color or form. Read on and realize your garden's potential for immortalizing thebeauty of flowers.

Everlastings supply natural materials for dried wreaths, bouquets, and potpourris. For variety in color, texture, and fragrance, grow a mix of flowers and foliage plants that retain their beauty long after summer has passed. You can anticipate flowers by midsummer if you sow seeds in the garden after the last expected frost.

Make borders no more than 4 feet wide so all blooms are within easy snipping reach. Mulch the plants to keep out competing weeds, conserve soil moisture, and prevent mud from splattering and spoiling blossoms.

Finally, remember that a dried bloom is only as beautiful as it was fresh, so take care to pick flawless garden specimens.

Annual statice: Statice supplies sprays of papery flowers on 12- to 30-inch-tall stems. Plants grow and bloom best in moist, fertile soil.
Learn more about statice.

Bachelor's button: One of the easiest annuals to grow, this wildflower produces papery blossoms in blue, purple, white, and pink. It grows from 1 to 3 feet tall.
Learn more about bachelor's button.

Blue salvia: Tiny spiked blooms smother 18-inch-tall Salvia farinacea all summer long. Pair it with the variety 'White Porcelain'.
Learn more about blue salvia.

Globe amaranth: Despite heat and drought, the clover-like flowers of globe amaranth bloom nonstop on stiff, 2-foot- tall stems.
Learn more about globe amaranth.

Strawflower: This old-time plant stands up to heat and drought like a champ and offers flowers in shades of red, orange, yellow, pink, and white.
Learn more about strawflower.

Sweet Annie: Foliage, not flowers, makes this 5-foot-tall annual popular for drying. Use supple side branches as a silvery foil in wreaths. Crush brittle main stems and use as a fragrant potpourri.

Many everlastings have papery blooms even when they're growing. These flowers readily air-dry hung from racks or rafters. Once you have the hang of it, branch out to other bloomers. With the desiccant silica gel, there's no reason to pass over any flower.

Whatever drying method you choose, pick blooms at their peak. Any basket, crock, or vase can be used for displaying driedflowers. For large bouquets, place florist's foam in the bottom of the container to hold stems in place. Insert dried foliage first. This filler material should be about 112 times the height of the container. Next, add tallerflowers, then medium and small blooms. To make a wreath, buy a wire form or fashion your own with grapevines. Wrap floral wire and tape around shortened stems to secure them to the wreath.

Prolong the beauty of dried flowers by displaying them in a dry room. Humid areas, such as bathrooms, promote mold. Preserve the blooms' rich hues by keeping arrangements away from direct sunlight, which bleaches the natural dyes of flowers.

Air-drying is the simplest way to preserve everlastings and other garden flowers, including statice, strawflower, gomphrena, amaranthus, celosia, salvia, helipterum, lavender, baby's-breath, bells-of-Ireland, coneflower,Russian sage, and safflower. This method also works well for many field flowers, such as goldenrod, yarrow, daisy fleabane, and Queen-Anne's-lace. Pick blooms when they're fully open at midday, after morning dew has dried.Strip the leaves and gather stems into bunches, securing them with elastic bands. Hang the bunches upside down in a dark, dry, ventilated area-such as an attic or shed-for two to three weeks.

Silica gel, a sand-like drying compound, is used for flowers that wither and lose color when air-dried, such as daisy, dahlia, delphinium, marigold, rose, peony, and zinnia. Insert the shortened stems into a 1-inch-deep layer of the granules in an airtight box. Avoid overlapping flowers. Sprinkle more silica gel on top until flowers are covered to a depth of 1 inch. Cover tightly and label with the date and flower name.Exact drying time depends on species and bloom size, but check flowers after three or four days. When petals feel papery, brush away the granules, removing blooms carefully. Store the reusable silica gel in a tightly sealed container.

Store small bunches of dried flowers in a tissue-linedcardboard box until you need them for arrangements. Place flower bunches in layers, separating layers with small pieces of tissue paper. Don't combine flowers preserved by different means in the same box. To prevent crushingthe fragile blooms, loosely overlay bunches so that individual blossoms do not touch each other. Some flowers, such as salvia, are hygroscopic, meaning they readily absorb moisture from the air. For this reason, it's important to keep boxes in a warm, dry area. Use a dehumidifier and a fanto thwart mold problems. Seal boxes with masking tape to keep pests out.