In September I was inspired by an article in BBC Gardener’s World Magazine about a woman who dried dahlias. On a whim, I picked some of my dahlias and zinnias, and hung them upside down to dry. I added a stem of golden rod and some of the smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens) that were already a pleasing shade of green.

I taped the stems onto this folding clothes rack, and it made an attractive installation in my front hall. Drying flower art!

Later I picked cardoon flowers and hung them on the rack, along with some of my Granvia Pink strawflowers. These excellent annuals been sent to me for trail by the Suntory folks. I also noticed that the developing seed heads on my Stoke’s asters (Stokesia laevis ‘Blue Frills’) were a lovely pale sea-green color, so I cut those and dried them as well. 

The pink Granvia strawflower and the cardoon kept very bright colors, but the burgundy dahlias aren’t bad either. The developing seed pods of the Stokesia made the perfect filler.

I put the dried stems into foam in a vase. Next year, I’ll cut more of the goldenrod, and grow more cardoon!

The full pom-pom style of dahlias dried the best. The dark purple flower here is one of that style. But even the Zinnias are lovely.