Dried Flowers Are The Perfect Way To Spruce Up Your Home This January

Is your home feeling sad and lifeless? With the Christmas tree gone and the ornaments packed away, your interiors might be missing some much-needed sparkle. Just because it’s no longer the season for wreathes and garlands, doesn’t mean you need to rid your home of nature entirely. While there’s few fresh local flowers currently in season, why not used dried alternatives to bring some life to your home. The Real Flower Company founder Rosebie Morton shares her top tips for arranging dried flowers.

How To Arrange Dried Flowers

The holly and the ivy festooned around the house seems a very long time ago now; the front door is naked without its wreath and there is a definite need for colour to lift the January grey outside.

The local flower shop is a good port of call and if it is strong on provenance then it should have seasonal blooms such as narcissi and hyacinths to add both colour and scent. It is still a little early for tulips but try mixing narcissi with a few twigs such as hazel (catkins are already in their full glory) or birch and you will have a vase full of Spring with minimal effort.

Foliage at this time of the year can be eye-catching and if you are lucky enough to have some available to pick in your garden then a few stems of eucalyptus, berried ivy and some twigs can make a wonderful display which, if kept spritzed with some water, will go on for weeks. 

The display that really will go on for weeks and months is a vase of dried flowers. These have really seen a resurgence of popularity in the last couple of years, and one can fully appreciate why. The memory of dusty faded bunches that past generations left neglected in a corner, have long been forgotten and replaced by modern and sustainable loose arrangements, bringing a splash of colour and beauty to any setting.

You may have arrangements left from Christmas which have dried naturally and can be reused – eucalyptus is a prime candidate as is rosemary, possibly some hips or berries may be reused to add interest and texture. I often find roses have obligingly died in an elegant fashion and with a bit of careful arranging can be reused. If you have none of the above, then a few carefully selected bought dried stems can be combined together to create an eye-catching display.

Try to go for different shapes and textures using a backdrop of dried green foliage to anchor the arrangement. Dried hydrangeas and roses will give a dramatic effect but alternatively go for a mix of dried grasses such as bunny tails, oats or miscanthus and mix with some lavender or straw flowers which will add a flash of colour as will craspedia (billy buttons) with its golden globe heads. Introduce the odd flat head such as yarrow and mix some flax with rounded heads and you will have created a natural just picked from a meadow arrangement which with minimal fuss will go on for years!

Maintenance of dried flowers is simple and logical. Place the flower vessel away from direct sunlight which will otherwise cause the blooms to fade. Keep them dry and cool and avoid placing in a room with any moisture such as a bathroom otherwise your beautiful display will go mouldy. Dried flowers tend to be very fragile, and brittle so avoid handling once you have arranged them other than to remove the dust which has a tendency to settle on their heads. Use the cool, gentle setting on a hairdryer to do this and remember to also give the vase a clean to keep the display fresh. Hopefully you will be inspired to possibly grow some of your own this coming year and then dry them as the seasons progress so you will always have some beauty to keep you happy through the year.