Some flowers work better than others for drying.  Flowers with a high water content don’t air dry well.  Always cut more flowers than you will need, because you will probably lose some in the drying process.  The best time to harvest your flowers is late morning, just after the dew has evaporated from the leaves.  Often fully open flowers will drop their petals as they dry.  Air drying is the simplest way to preserve your cut flowers.

Steps for Air Drying Flowers

1. Gather the flower stems into small bunches, about a ½ inch in diameter, and wrap them tightly with a rubber band.  The stems will shrink slightly, so make sure the band is tight.
2. Hook a paper clip through the rubber band and hang the bunches, upside down, from the ceiling, with a hook or string.  Keep them upside down so that the stem don’t bend from being top heavy.  If you are only drying the flower heads, lay them out individually on a screen.
3. The bunches will need to be out of direct sunlight, preferably in darkness.  The more sun the flowers are exposed to, the more the color will fade.
4. Don’t group the bunches too close to one another.  Good air circulation and low humidity are also important factors in drying flowers.

Good choices for drying include:

• African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)
• Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
• Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
• Delphinium, Larkspur (Consolida ambigua)
• Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro)
• Globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)
• Globe amaranth (Gomphrena)
• Larkspur (Consolida ambigua)
• Lavender (Lavandula Augustifolia)
• Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) seed heads
• Marjoram (Origanum vulgare)
• Pompon Dahlias (Dahlia hortensis)
• Poppy seed heads (Papaver somniferum)
• Roses (Rosa)
• Starflower (Scabiosa stellata)
• Statice (Limonium sinuatum)
• Strawflower (Helichrysum bracteatum)
• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)