The Rural Voice, 2006-10, Page 40Gardening
Strawflowers for October bouquets
Rhea
Hamilton -
Seeger and
her husband
live near
Auburn. She
is a skilled
cook and
gardener.
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
October marks the last of the
garden fresh flowers in the house. I
have cut the last of the
chrysanthemums as late as November
if they are slow to bloom, but for the
most part my blooms are done for the
year.
On to the sprays of red -berried
ilex, plumes of feathery grass and a
handful of red osier branches to fill
out the planters at the back door – all
handsome and ready for the cold
weather. But to extend the flowers
indoors you have to look to such
favourites as strawflowers and pearly
everlasting.
I was reminded of how pretty
dried flowers were when a friend
brought me a few strawflowers from
her garden. The red bronze petals
looked like delicate folds of shiny
taffeta and the yellow centres were a
reminder of the glowing hot summer
sun. She had a record crop this year
and has been busy carefully inserting
a wire into the blossoms before they
dry out. The wire will act as a stem
when the natural one becomes brittle
and breaks off, or on damp days
when the stems may absorb moisture
and then flop over.
Dried "everlasting" flowers were
around before the pioneers left
Europe to settle in Canada. They
knew that certain flowers —
cockscomb, celosia, artemesia,
strawflowers, globe amaranth, and
statice — kept their shape and much
of their colour when tied in bunches
and hung upside down in a warm
room to dry. They could be easily
arranged in a vase filled with sand
and used all winter long to decorate
their homes and offered as gifts. All
of these seeds were brought to their
new homes in North America and the
36 THE RURAL VOICE
blooms were mixed with the natural
finds here: pearly everlasting,
goldenrod, Joe Pye weed, yarrow,
cattails, corn, cane and plumed
grasses and sedge.
Advancements in horticulture have
replaced our need for dried blooms
with an abundance of fresh flowers
available all year long. And if fresh is
not in your budget there are silk
flowers, although they are really
synthetic material now but still very
beautiful. Some of the more costly
silks are so lifelike it is hard to
imagine fresh ones in their place. But
every once in a while I see great
displays of dried flowers and I realize
that they will never really be out of
style for long. Like so many things in
our lives, dried flowers fade in and
out of fashion.
Strawflowers are still among the
favoured annuals. Marjorie Mason
Hogue, nursery owner, has them
listed in her book of Amazing
Annuals. Bracteantha Bracteata,
formerly part of the genus
Helichrysum or strawflowers can be
grown from seed and is a must for
sunny gardens where you do little if
any watering. There is a series of
strawflowers aptly named Outback
Paper Daisies whose height ranges
from nine inches to three feet. The
extra bonus is they attract butterflies.
Colours are not restricted to the warm
oranges and reds but include white,
rose, salmon and purple. That covers
a lot of colour schemes in your
garden.
You can sow strawflower seeds
indoors about six to eight weeks
before the last frost date, but
remember they need light to
germinate. They are happy in regular
soil and don't suffer too much in
droughty conditions.
Also look for Himalayan
Everlasting, Anaphalis Triplinervis
which is also called Three -veined
Everlasting. It forms a low bushy
mound of silvery -grey leaves and
makes for a great edging plant in
your border. The clusters of popery
white button flowers are great for
both fresh and dried bouquets and as
a bonus are attractive to butterflies
and not deer and rabbits. Here is the
catch — performs well in rich moist
soil. Maybe not the best choice for
our gravel ridge.
There are a few rules when drying
flowers. Select perfect blossoms and
cut them as soon as they reach
maturity. Of course there are always
a few exceptions and one of them is
strawflowers. You want to gather
them just before they are fully open
to prevent browning of the centres. It
is also a good idea to pick some buds
too as they will add a more natural
look to your bouquet. The other
exception is Joe Pye weed. If picked
in the bud stage it retains its rosy -
purple tint.
Light-coloured blooms are
preferable for air drying since darker
blooms tend to fade and streak. The
ideal time for harvest is later in the
day when the dew is dry and yet the
leaves are not droopy, picture noon
on a hot clear day.
Hang them immediately without
placing them in water. You have to
tie your bundles in groups of not
more that six or eight small stems in
order to let the air circulate and
prevent mildew. And one final rule: it
is ,:ssential they be hung in a dry,
dark place. Patience. Most flowers
will be ready for use in 10 days to
two weeks when their petals are dry
and slightly brittle to the touch.
Among my favourite dried plant
materials are the seeds of silver
penny or lunaria. They come from a
biennial that has dark purple flowers
in the spring and great stalks of dark
coin-like seed pods. The dark panels
fall away leaving silver circles
glittering in the daylight. Teamed up
with red osier and evergreens they
make a nice touch in an arrangement.
They do well outside in a sheltered
spot but once the winter winds
find them they become very lacy and
torn.
Now with all this talk about drying
flowers it is time to check out
the hillsides around the farm. Teasels
and some of the large Queen Anne's
lace look great in arrangements
too. Good excuse to get out for a
walk.0