The Magic of Dried Flowers at PepperHarrow
One of the fun parts of growing flowers is watching them change through the seasons. From the first pastel stems in spring to the last vibrant blooms of late summer, each variety has its moment. With every season, there’s always something to look forward to, but it’s good to remember: just because the growing season ends doesn’t mean the beauty has to.
Here at PepperHarrow, we love drying flowers to carry a bit of those gorgeous blooms with us through the colder months. There are many different ways to preserve flowers, but over the years we’ve found that simple air drying fits our ‘keep is simple’ way of doing things. Always the best plan! Air drying flowers is easy, natural, and requires very little beyond time and patience.
Why We Dry Flowers
Drying flowers allows us to expand our flower season to diversify into selling flowers when fresh flowers are no longer in bloom, during our off season. This is a great way to keep our business running during the months when fresh flowers aren’t readily available.
We use dried flowers throughout our home and studio to create interesting, creative crafts to appreciate and enjoy. They fill vases, become wreaths for the front door, and sometimes find their way into other creative projects, like installations for friends.
Mini Dried Flower Bouquets
Making mini-dried flower bouquets is one of our most favorite activities during our off season. We enjoy the creative process of making beautiful new combinations to share with our customers.
Our Simple Air Drying Method
Air drying is as uncomplicated as it sounds, and that’s exactly why we love it. We’re usually too busy to be able to handle anything beyond what’s simple and straightforward, because there are always a ton of competing projects going on when we’re in the height of our growing season.
We begin by harvesting flowers when they’re at their peak bloom, where they are open and beautiful, but not overly mature. The timing matters. If you wait too long, petals may fall as they dry. If you cut too early, they may not fully open.
Once cut, we strip the extra leaves from the stems and gather the flowers into small bundles of around 10-20 stems. It’s important not to make the bundles too large, as good air circulation helps prevent mold. We secure the stems tightly with twine or a rubber band, and will hand from a opened paperclip, knowing they’ll shrink slightly as they dry.
Then we hang them upside down in a dry, dim or artificially lit, well-ventilated space. A barn beam, a spare room, or even a quiet corner works beautifully. Keeping your dried flowers out of direct sunlight helps preserve their color. From there, all that’s left to do is wait.
Most flowers take a couple of weeks to fully dry, depending on humidity and the variety. You’ll know they’re ready when the petals feel crisp and the stems snap cleanly.
Air Drying Flowers
Hang a rope, or a metal chain from the rafters, rubber band your bundle and hang using an opened paperclip. Simple!
The Flowers That Dry Best
Some flowers naturally lend themselves to drying. Over the years, we’ve had wonderful success with lavender, statice, strawflower, blue globe thistle, celosia, yarrow, nigella pods, gomphrena, and pennycress. These blooms tend to hold both their shape and color beautifully.
For us, part of the joy is experimenting with which flowers work and which don’t. Not every flower dries perfectly, and that’s okay. There’s beauty even in the unexpected shapes and faded tones.
Uses for Dried Flowers
We transform our dried flower bunches into mixed, mini dried bouquets, straight-stem bunches, and lush bunched arrangements in vases designed to bring warmth and texture into the home. Some dried blooms become flower confetti for celebrations, while delicate stems and accents are crafted into dried flowers for styling, gifting, and creative projects. When the holidays arrive, those same summer blooms reappear as ornaments, wreaths, and keepsakes. All little bits of the growing season that last far beyond it.
In autumn, dried flowers truly shine. We love pairing them with mini pumpkins for a look that feels effortlessly cozy and seasonal. The softness of dried grasses, seed heads, and blooms layered against the sculptural charm of pumpkins creates arrangements full of movement, earthiness, and fall magic. Whether tucked into a centerpiece, styled on a mantle, or gifted as a small seasonal gesture, dried flowers and mini pumpkins together capture everything we adore about this time of year.
Pumpkins with dried flowers on top are a really popular item with our customers during the autumn season. You can see why! The vibrant colors really make these little pumpkins pop.
Bringing the Garden Indoors
Once dried, it always seems like the flowers take on a new life. We love placing them in simple vessels, in old crocks, ironstone pitchers, wooden bowls. They add texture and warmth to a space without a to of maintenance. Also, dried flowers also make thoughtful gifts. A small hand-tied bundle shared in the winter feels like sharing a piece of summer.
There’s something deeply satisfying about preserving what you’ve grown. Air drying flowers is slow and uncomplicated, much like so many good things on the farm. It asks only for patience, and in return, it gives you beauty that lingers long after the last frost.
If you’ve never tried drying your own flowers, we recommend to start small. Cut a handful, tie them up, and hang them somewhere quiet. You may find, as we have, that it becomes a fun, integral part of the season.
