Perennial Flowers & Greens For Drying

Plants

Aug 29

My biggest suggestion for new flower famers and growers is to focus on flowers and greens that either have a very long vase life (like tulips and lilies) or that can be dried. The least expensive (and fastest) road to those dried flowers if you’re just getting started is with annuals. There is great info out there about annual flowers that work well. People love statice and strawflowers and larkspur, for example.

But our industry talks less about the “next level” for growers who are wanting to plan for the future, who are able to wait a year for perennials to flower or who looking to streamline their farms, plant fewer annuals, and take advantage of plants that flower reliably every season for use fresh or dried.

These time-saving plants don’t have to be resown every year, and, in time you can divide them and multiply your crop or transplant (or sell) the tiny seedlings that often appear in the spring at the base of the plant if some flowers are left on. While technically any plant can be dried, some tend to get moldy/rotten quickly, shatter too easily, or don’t hold their color well. Here are some of our favorite perennial or self-sowing flowers and foliages. Depending on your climate, your “perennials for drying” list may look different. We hang dry bunches of these flowers and foliages upside down from the rafters in our barn (*or in some cases let them cure on the plants).

I’m going to wait a bit longer this season to share the different kinds of grasses that we grow here for fall use and drying. When more of them are flowering I’ll share some video and links. Perennial seeded grasses are great additions to our fall offerings!

We’ll also take a look at our favorite self-sowing annuals and biennials and other easy to grow flowers and greens that are good for drying.