floristry · August · 2 min read
Dried Flowers — The Forever Bouquet
Strawflower, statice, achillea, grasses — what to grow, when to pick it, and how to dry it properly.
Dried flowers — the forever bouquet. Done well, they're the most sustainable form of floristry you can sell.
If you're running your cutting patch as a business, dried flowers extend your season from 5 months to 12. They give you a product to sell through winter, an easy workshop revenue stream, and a lower-stress wedding option. If you're growing for pleasure, they're a quiet way to keep the summer in the house through January.
What to grow for drying
Star performers:
- Strawflower (Helichrysum) — the obvious one. Pick just before fully open. Dries to paper-perfect.
- Statice — purple, white, yellow. Bomb-proof.
- Achillea (yarrow) — flat yellow, terracotta, or deep red heads. Keeps colour beautifully.
- Larkspur — the one annual that holds blue through drying.
- Grasses — panicum, pennisetum, briza, stipa. Every bouquet needs them.
- Gypsophila — the froth. Cut long stems before full bloom.
- Honesty (Lunaria) seed-pods — silver discs. Pick green, let dry.
- Poppy seed-heads — sculptural. Cut once the stems have yellowed.
- Hydrangea — cut late, once the papery stage has set in.
- Nigella seed-pods — little striped lanterns.
When to pick
Just before the flower is fully open. If you pick at peak bloom, the dried flower will shatter.
How to dry
- Bunch 6–10 stems loosely with a rubber band (rubber, because it shrinks as the stems do).
- Hang upside down somewhere dark, dry and airy. A loft, a shed, a spare bedroom with the curtains closed.
- Allow two to three weeks for most things, longer for hydrangea.
- Store in lidded cardboard boxes, away from light, until you need them.
Selling dried flowers
- Posies — £18–£28 retail, very low cost of goods.
- Wreaths — £40–£85 for weddings or Christmas.
- Workshops — £45–£95 per head for a two-hour dried wreath-making session. These fill quickly and run at almost 100% margin.
- Wedding confetti — delphinium and larkspur petals, dried and bagged.
🎧 Listen to the podcast episode: The Cut Flower Podcast — Dried Flowers
Want to build dried flowers into your business? That's module 8 of Build a Blooming Business. Or join The Best Bunch Membership for monthly practical masterclasses.
