Dried Flower Arrangements

Compositions of dried flowers have long decorated the house - in the last century they were placed on the piano, buffets and window-sills, especially in winter, when there were no natural flowers. At the beginning of the 20th century, interest in them visibly weakened, because rigid and often dusty bouquets began to be perceived as a symbol of the Victorian era that had gone out of fashion. Twenty years ago, the selection of dry plants on sale was still very limited.

Since then, much has changed. Nowadays, any large flower shop has a wide selection of various dry plants. The range is not limited to several types of herbs, a pair of brown twigs or flowers, and a bunch of lavender or heather - new methods of drying have appeared, in which the colors and spectacular plants are preserved. In this case, it is not necessary to rely on the purchased material - by drying out garden and wild plants, you will abundantly provide yourself with free greenery and flowers for arrangements.

So, if you haven’t done so yet, proceed to making a composition from dry plants. You may be confused by two things. Firstly, dry flowers do not possess the transient beauty and colors of living plants. This prejudice can be overcome if we consider living and dried flowers not as competitors, but as allies in a composition that only have different properties. The second bias is associated with the feeling that dried flowers are uninteresting and lifeless. It arises from the fact that most of the compositions of dried flowers in stores and in houses are bouquets on short stalks in brown, golden and cream tones in wicker baskets, which are commonly called "hedgehog in a basket." You should not be confused, because such compositions are relics of former times. With the help of new methods of drying and interesting materials that are now available for sale, it is possible to create spectacular and bright modern arrangements.

We talked about the shortcomings of dry plant compositions; Now it's time to mention their merits. Dry bouquets are preserved for years and almost do not require care - they only need to shake off dust from time to time. Such longevity saves money that you would spend on purchased flowers for compositions. It also saves time, if the arrangement for you is not a pleasure, but a necessity to decorate the house, since the fresh flowers compositions need to be renewed every week or two and regularly fill them with water. Finally, the number of advantages of dry bouquets is that they do not require watering, so the vessels for them should not be waterproof and can be placed in any, even hard-to-reach place.

However, more to the point. First of all, the definition of "dry flowers" is not quite correct. First, some plants preserve in glycerol solution, so that they are not "dry", and secondly, herbs, seed pods, large leaves, toadstools, and not flowers, occupy a significant place in the compositions. Plants are fixed mostly in a brown floral sponge, although sometimes they use a hardening or non-hardening molding compound.

Having placed in a vessel, fastening is necessary to disguise. Favorite vessels for dry compositions have always been wicker baskets. However, there are other possibilities - the composition in a free or abstract style will require an appropriate vessel, a rustic container is inappropriate here. Keep in mind: dry compositions are light because they do without water; so that the composition does not turn over, some sand or gravel is poured into the high vases in advance.

Orange, cream and brown colors are characteristic of the air-dried material, the greens processed in glycerin are green or brownish, and the dried flowers in silica gel retain a bright color. Brighter than others tinted leaves and flowers - bright blue, fiery red, shining yellow, etc. Whether to use them in a composition is a matter of taste, many arrangers are skeptical of tinted material, but bright colors are well combined with a modern interior.

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