Grow your own
You don’t need a large area to grow enough plants for several large arrangements. Plan your garden so you can enjoy it year round by planting evergreens, deciduous plants, annuals, and perennials. Plant rows of flowers in your vegetable garden not only does planting flowers in your vegetable garden look well but also helps pollinate your vegetables.
By drying your focal flowers such as; hydrangeas, roses, dahlias and sunflowers; and a selection of line flowers such as larkspur, delphinium, and ferns you can save money and have a greater variety of flowers in your arrangements.
To have successful drying depends not only upon the preserving process but also before picking the fresh plants at the right time. Cut the flowers in the early morning or late evening. At these times the flowers are fully saturated with water. Enjoy cut roses as they open. Just before they reach full bloom, remove them from the water and hang them up to dry.
Cut flowers when the heads feel firm, just before they come into full bloom.
When preserving in a solution of water and glycerin, collect foliage in the summer when the leaves are at peak maturity. Young green leaves will not absorb the glycerin solution, and autumn leaves have stopped drinking water and sap. So, both are unsuitable for absorbing glycerin.
To get your stems to dry well you can cut the stems and then wire them before you hang them, this can be done by simply wrapping some floral tape around them before hanging.
When drying larger flowers, it may take up to two and three weeks and make sure to dry them individually. These larger flowers are heavier and will need to be hung separately to avoid any parts from breaking.
Taking care of dried flowers
The safest way to store dried flora is in long, shallow cardboard boxes. Poke holes in the sides and top so the air can circulate. You can also securely wrap groups of similar flowers together in tissue or newspaper. Store your box of flowers in an area that the temperature is constant. Don’t forget to label the box, so you know what it contains.
If you are looking for a great place to get several large varieties of plants, trees, shrubs, roses, hydrangeas and many other types of flowers to dry you can look online at www.tnnursery.net.