Dried flowers are having their moment in the world of interiors at present, but not in the old fashioned pressed between pages of a book kind-of-way. No, modern dried flowers are all about structure and impact. I’m a huge lover of natural history so I’m all over this trend, but even I will admit I’m starting to tire a little of the number of times I’ve seen pampas grass arranged just so in a vase on Instagram! Why? Because there are so many other things which look wonderful dried in the home. I’ve been using dried flowers and grasses around the home for several years, and give full credit to the floral stylist who led a workshop I attended years ago who collected dried flowers himself and got me thinking. I’ve picked up a few pointers along the way, with some flowers that refuse to be dried and others that turn very soon after, in fact our front porch (where I do most of my drying) can attest, many things have been experimented with!

If you like to reflect the natural world in your home, whether it be through plants, entomology or wood, then this may be a trend which really speaks to you too. I have been drying out flowers and grasses from the garden, keeping back particularly nice elements of bouquets (always do this, not all will take, but those that do pay huge reward) and foraging the odd bit on my travels, you really can source everywhere when you start to look around. For example, the mini poppy seed heads you see in the bedroom (above) were gathered on the walk home from school, growing between the cracks of the pavement.  And then there’s the flowers with a story, like the vase of Love in The Mist (below) which we have in the hallway as a reminder of the gorgeous wedding we attended in summer of our good friends Nick & Poppy.

I love the skeletal delicacy of dried flowers, they have a fragile beauty which is just lovely dotted around the home. So, today I thought I’d share some shots from around the house of the various things I’ve collected over the years and as an illustrated guide to my favourite varieties of dried flowers and grasses, the ones I have found most successful, and with a few tips along the way.

As grasses seem to be having a real vogue at the moment, let’s plunge in with those first. I have two main winners in this category and both have a pink-ish tinge, though this may be coincidental! I have taken Pink Muhly grass (main image at top of piece) from several bouquets over the years and highly recommend it as they always look so pretty in vases, they keep enormously well, in fact most of my collection of this comes from a flower delivery subscription two summers ago. In the garden we have Pennisetum Hameln and I always gather this up at the end of summer, it’s beautiful purplish hue fades over time but should last through to winter providing a great flash of autumnal colour wherever you place it. If you ever come across wild grasses growing where they shouldn’t then pick them, I have a small collection I’ve gathered from all around including some which were growing in the passage way by the bins, there really is beauty everywhere!

The best flowers to dry are those with an architectural structure, such as alliums, ammi majus (cow parsley), protea, and my very favourite, fennel flowers (which happen to grow in abundance from the one fennel bulb we planted in the garden). I have Fennel flowers in several rooms and love looking at them through the harsh winter months when not much is growing outside. Cotton flowers which you see in the images above, can be easily picked up at florists in the run up to Christmas and they never fade or tarnish. Eucalyptus dries very well (and looks great with Cotton Flowers) but doesn’t last past about six months as the colour starts to turn an unattractive yellowish-green. I tend to buy a bunch of eucalyptus and once they stop smelling of fragrance tip the water out and keep them for the six months until they’ve faded. Final flower on my list is delicate Astrantia, these dried in the garden by chance this summer and I love their pretty daisy like structure, they are delicate and fragile but rather architectural too.

I’m still learning about my favourite varieties, so surprised by how effective they can look in place of fresh blooms. I’d love to know of any other varieties that you’ve successfully dried. Keep me posted in the comments below.