When The Flowers Fade

I can't think of anything more beautiful in the middle of winter,

when everything outdoors is dormant and drab,

than having fragrant and colorful flowers indoors.

One of the things I miss most during the winter is bringing in fresh picked flowers from the garden.  They add so much joy to a room!
So here's a great way to have the next best thing all winter long!

Recently, the doorbell rang and I was handed a gorgeous floral arrangement from FTD that was full of roses, lilies and snapdragons.  The flowers were so fragrant and added such color and beauty in the keeping room.

Sad thing is, those flowers fade and then what?  They usually end up in the trash.

The first petals to begin falling were the snapdragons.

The partially dried petals would fall to the table top and as I began collecting them to discard I noticed they weren't turning brown.  The petals were so delicate, beautifully shaped and the colors so vibrant.  So, I decided to save them.

As petals fell, I would place them on a platter that I covered with a paper towel so they could dry.
When the snapdragon stems were being discarded, I pinched off the remaining petals and placed them on a paper towel so they could dry too.

They all dried beautifully and were placed in the living room.

I have a large collection of these colonial dishes by Rieber Bavaria and thought this romantic dish pattern would be perfect for these tiny snapdragon petals.

Colonial romance dishes, Wedgewood blue, brass and these porcelain busts go so well together.

Other flowers in the arrangement that I dried were roses and seeded eucalyptus.
I've used them in arrangements in the hallway to the downstairs guest room.

It's best to leave the roses and seeded eucalyptus stems in water as long as possible, to begin drying while still in the vase.
Then the seeded eucalyptus were removed and placed on paper towels to finish drying.

To fully dry the roses, I hung them in a closet with the flowers facing downward for about a week.

The seeded eucalyptus was placed in a large milk glass vase

and the dried roses in a small fluted top vase.

Dried flowers can be expensive, so the next time your doorbell rings and it's a flower arrangement

or even when picking flowers from your garden...dry them!  A gift that keeps on giving.

And the winner the LoveFeast HeartGram is Vel of Life and Home at 2102.  Congratulations!!!

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