There are so many sayings that I should have posted on the bathroom mirror like "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may," to get me motivated earlier, but we can still harvest some of summer’s color. It can be a pleasant afternoon task with a friend, a sister or with children -- a memory day.
Choose a warm, sunny day after the dew has dried. Pick flowers at their peak and strip the foliage from the stems. Fasten the stems with a rubber band (stems shrink as they dehydrate) and hang them in small bundles upside down in a dark, airy place. This goes for grains such as oats, grasses and flowers. Flower heads need to be placed at different levels so they don't impinge on each other.
To get curved grass stems for ease in arranging, stand them in bottles or curve them in a round basket or box. A light spray of clear plastic can stabilize the seed heads of grasses. Good floral candidates would include roses, larkspur, yarrow and goldenrod. Two to four weeks of drying should suffice. A light spray when dry will again avoid shattering.
Certain flowers such as rudbeckias, allium and hydrangea will dry slowly and successfully by removing foliage and then standing them upright in one to two inches of water. As it evaporates, the stems will take up just enough moisture but allow the flowers to desiccate.
Pick sumac, mullein and dock at different maturity stages to get color variations. These will drop a lot of seeds, so bag them with a paper sack as you hang them to dry. Again, a light spray of clear plastic will stabilize them.
Simple flowers and colorful leaves that we will soon see can be pressed between layers of absorbent paper such as a thick phone book, placed on a flat surface and weighed down. They should be free of moisture in two to four weeks. Or, press the leaves for 24 hours, brushing a layer of a decoupage finish on each side, allowing drying between sides. This will help maintain color better and they will not be brittle.
A line of bright yellow big-toothed aspen leaves weaving a line down a table is stunning. Pressed flowers can be adhered to plain cards to send to family or friends, or to plain paper napkins to create custom items to make even family dinners special -- a simple project for children that can get rave reviews.
Dry seed pods coated with spray shellac, lacquer, clear plastic or varnish will keep them from dropping their seeds to allow their use in arrangements. Pine cones that may have sticky sap on them need a trip to the oven at 180 degrees on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Bake until the sap is shiny. Watch closely as they can be a fire-hazard. Some pods and mosses, attractive components in arrangements, need that same trip to the oven. My sister put a box of pods under her bed to dry, only to take them out a few weeks later covered with maggots!
As the Norwegian aphorism reminds us, "The eye also has needs." It is too late to pick flowers when the snow flies!
These local garden articles will reach you each week throughout the gardening season, but also click on "Yard and Garden” at the University of Minnesota Extension website -- www.extension.umn.edu -- for gardening information, or visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Beltramicountymastergardeners.
Local Master Gardeners will respond to questions via voicemail. Call (218) 444-7916, and leave your name, number and question.
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August 19, 2020 at 08:00PM
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MASTER GARDENERS: 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may' - Bemidji Pioneer
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