How Do You Dry Flowers

It took much experimentation to find the best way. I'll have enough to share with all my hydrangea-loving floral designing friends. Ceramic and porcelain hydrangeas can be purchased, and replicas are readily available in artificial, silk-like renditions.

We wanted a finished look for our "magic wands," so we wrapped the ribbon in a tight spiral down the stems to the bottom. One set of instructions we found said to let the lavender wilt a bit, but with our sturdy ‘Fat Spike' variety, that didn't seem...

When I smell the scent of lavender, I am instantly reminded of one grandmother, when I inhale the scent of lilacs, I think of the other.The chief ingredient of a potpourri is rose petals.

An orchid is healthy if you find new white or light green fleshy roots. Immediately repot and water them when you get home, and soon you will have a large, inexpensive orchid collection.

Both saws and pruning shears are available in extended versions, for hard-to-reach areas. Although they tolerate heavy pruning, cutting too frequently can adversely affect growth. Remove all tissue that is dead, diseased or injured.

) You've given them a full belly, vital energy and nutrients they need to survive, and a brief moment of peace of mind, free of their constant food-related worries. This line of thinking has the tendency to quickly turn from awe and wonder to insignificance:...

Overwintering Ginger Ginger cannot withstand freezing temperatures. Culinary ginger will flower when it is 2 years old, but this doesn't help its culinary value. Your “some day” ginger harvest can happen this year with the right seed pieces and soil...

If you were counting, yes--that was a list of 42 states. Believe it or not, most of the 50 states have their own official insect! For the sake of brevity, I'll present the information by insect rather than state.

Cut this growth off at the base. Sumac is not one of these trees. Most trees average 15 to 25 feet in height, with a similar width. If left to nature's devices, these trees would grow quite shrubby and overgrown.

Spraying your hands with sprayable cooking oil helps to protect your skin when deadheading sticky shrubs. When deadheading shrubs, snap off or prune single-growth buds at the ends of shoots.

Feed blazing star with a half-strength application of a high-phosphorus "bloom booster" fertilizer according to label directions. Herbaceous plants such as blazing star can be deadheaded and pruned with a simple pair of garden shears.

Additionally, check existing cottage-food legislation in your state, which legalizes specific items (typically non-refrigerated bakery products and high-acid canned items, such as jams and salsa) prepared in a home kitchen for public sale.

Deadhead marigolds -- cut off their spent flowers -- to keep them blooming until frost and to improve their appearance. The plants tolerate light drought but flowering is diminished.

As with most Callas, this one needs consistent moisture and partial to full sun (2).I'll include Nepal Lily because of its striking beauty. There are many beautiful spurges to grow, including Wood Spurge, ‘Redwing,' Cushion Spurge, Waldstein's Spurge,...

Perennial in zones 4 through 9, 'Green Lace' needs partial to full shade and will tolerate a bit of water. You can be the judge of these green cultivars.The stunner at right is Peony 'Green Halo.' It might cost you an arm and a leg as some other interesting...

Since its founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect more than 5 million of acres of farmland. “The ‘I Love My Farmers Market' celebration is about celebrating the unique qualities of farmers' markets throughout the nation and the important...

Breeders have created hybrids with flowers of soft green as well as the more traditional red, cream and pink. Mollis does best in moist, fertile soil in a mostly sunny spot.One of the hardest-working plants in any perennial garden, heuchera tolerates...

The top of the xylem tubes become empty from the loss of water, creating a vacuum, so water rises to fill the empty space.When you pick flowers and bring them inside, the demand for water continues, but now the flowers have lost their life support.

Different color dyes seem to work at different rates due to the chemical makeup of the dye, while different brands of food coloring also affect the rate of color absorption. The entire dyeing process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending...

These flowers are typically blue, white or lavender, mimicking bell, star or cup shapes. Gratitude and appreciation may be expressed with roses, too, but different colors communicate slightly different meanings.

When the plants die back in late autumn, corms remain in the ground in temperate climates and put out new foliage and flowers in spring. Flower weight makes some glad stems bend or break.

You'll need to know what type of tree you have to determine when it will bloom.Some magnolia trees bloom in early spring, from February to May. The white-blooming Centennial Star, the fuchsia-blooming Ann Magnolia and the bicolored Saucer magnolia are...

All edible flowers have almost zero calories.For those of you with allergies remove the pollen-bearing parts of the flower, the pistils and stamens before eating the flowers.Toxic Flowers include Azalea, Clematis, Crocus, Daphne, foxglove, Amaryllis,...

Blooms can be single, semi-double or fully double. Keep rudbeckias dead-headed by pinching off flowering stems at their base. For the longest cut flower life, you should avoid exposing bouquets containing black-eyed Susan to ethylene sources such as ripening...

The ovules have a small hole at the end to allow the pollen to enter. The name comes from the Greek word gymno, which means naked. Cones and leaves may bear the seed and they have ovules, but they are not enclosed ovaries like those in flowers.Pine cones...

You'll often see several colors in the same flower. This species is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 3b through 11.Cactus that flower in summer's heat are generally substantial specimens that have stored a significant...

Also known as mums, these perennials are the classic fall blooming flower. Read on to find out what you and your loved ones' birth flowers are.Carnations have been cultivated for 2,000 years and are still popular in many different cultures around the...