Happy first day of autumn!
I was cutting off the dead stuff on some wild irises in my yard last weekend and noticed how delicate and beautiful the dried blossoms were. This got me thinking about the dried up, deep brown blooms (Curly Dock) you always see by the side of the road this time of year, along with the last of the Queen Anne’s Lace, the blooms of which curl into themselves as they dry out.
Thinking of interesting dried flowers and weeds, I remembered that in my compost pile I had a bunch of Silver Dollar (Annual Honesty) clippings. I started looking around my yard, and watching the sides of the road to and from work for more dead flowers, interesting dried plants, and the like.
After a few days, this is what I’d collected:
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Dried treasure: Curly dock, Silver Dollars, Self Heal
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More dried goodness: Queen Anne’s Lace, Wild Iris, Foxglove
I gathered up a few vases of different sizes and shapes, and then started a bouquet with a few blooms from each type I’d collected, mixing and matching at will, and adding a bit of this or that when a bouquet seemed to need it. I also discovered that since these plants didn’t need to reach any water, I could wedge shorter flowers up high in a group, to highlight what might usually be relegated to the lower levels of a live bunch of flowers.
The result of my efforts and dried bounty is a beautiful bouquet (or three) that requires no watering, looks great, and really does a great job of welcoming the new season into the house. Give it a try in your own backyard and back roads (fall foliage would be a great addition), and please send us some photos of your creations.
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