Other Uses for Annuals
Don't limit the beauty of annuals to just your garden bed. Cuttings and dried and pressed flowers are an excellent way to enjoy flowers all year long, inside and out. Use the tips that follow to help you.
If you'd like to have containers full of flowers brightening your home, a perfect source is a cutting garden filled with annuals. Most gardeners are unwilling to cut many blooms from their regular flower beds because they want as full and colorful a display as possible. Therefore, a garden specially set aside to supply flowers for cutting is a good solution. This can be a separate flower bed, or you can devote a row or two of your vegetable patch to a flower crop.
Most seed companies offer packets of "Cutting Flower Mix" that contain a variety of flowering annuals. The mixture varies, but it will always include seeds that are easy to grow and produce nice, bouquet-type flowers.
Mixes usually include some, but not all, of the following plants: marigolds, zinnias, plumed cockscomb, baby's breath, bachelor's buttons, pot marigolds, cosmos, asters, blanket flowers, and seedling dahlias.
 ©2006 Publications International, Ltd. A cutting garden full of daisies, chrysanthemums, and marguerite can bring annual color into a home. |
The major disadvantage to buying such a mix is that you don't know in advance what colors the flowers will be. If you want to key the flower colors to the colors in your home or if you only want specific kinds of cut flowers, then you'll need to purchase those varieties separately.
When cutting for indoor use, select flowers that are in bud or in early stages of bloom. Those in later stages of bloom should be cut from the plant and discarded. If they're left, plant strength will be wasted on the formation of seeds.
Cutting Garden
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To obtain the longest period of enjoyment possible from cut flowers, pick them in the early morning. Use a sharp knife and make a slanted cut. Cut just above the point where another flower bud or a side shoot is beginning to grow. This way,
plant energy will quickly shift to production of additional blooms.
As you cut, place the flowers in a container of water and bring them indoors promptly. Remove the leaves from the lower portion of each stem, immediately putting the flowers back
into a tall container of fresh water. You can either arrange bouquets right away or keep cut flowers in a cool location to arrange later.
Each time you recut a stem, always use a sharp knife and
cut on a slant. This keeps all available stem cells open to the transfer of water up into the cut flower. Scissors and shears can pinch some of these water channels closed.
Also, remember to remove all leaves that will be under water once the flower is in a container. If left on, they'll rot, which not only causes a terrible odor but also shortens flower life by clogging stem cells needed for water transfer.
Elements of Attractive Bouquets
Annuals are lovely in both elaborate formal arrangements and in simple, informal bouquets. It's easy to quickly make attractive bouquets if you keep these hints in mind as you pick and arrange flowers:
- Select flowers in bud as well as in early bloom.
- Select colors that blend well.
- Separate clashing colors with gray foliage or white flowers.
- Cut flowers at different lengths. Leave longer stems on smaller flowers; shorter stems on larger ones.
- Mix flowers of varying sizes and forms.
- Choose flowers in different stages of bloom to provide more variety of form.
- Use containers that are narrower at the top than at the bottom for an easy, informal bouquet. If a different effect is desired, use cylindrical vases or containers with flared mouths.
- Match container size to bouquet size to keep a good balance between flowers and container.
Drying and Pressing Annuals
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There are several different drying techniques for annuals. The easiest is hang drying. After picking, all leaves should be removed, and flowers should be grouped in bunches of six to eight stems. Wind an elastic band tightly around the stems.
Hang bundles upside-down out of the light in a well-ventilated, dry area. Leave enough space between bundles to allow for good air circulation and protect the bundles by enclosing
them in large paper bags. The flowers will dry in two to three weeks. They can then be laid in covered boxes or left hanging.
Some flowers are too thick and others too delicate to successfully hang dry. Instead they can be dried with a desiccant -- a material that will draw moisture into itself.
Floral desiccant is sold commercially. Or you can make it yourself by mixing equal parts of fine, dry sand and borax powder.
To use, pour an inch or more of desiccant in the bottom of a box, then lay the flowers on top. Very carefully spoon more desiccant up and around each flower head. Once all of the flowers are mounded over, an additional inch or two of desiccant should be gently poured on top.
Use a large, shallow box for long spikes of bloom such as larkspur. For single, dense blooms, like roses and marigolds, remove the flower stem first and replace it with a stiff wire stem. Lay the flowers flat on the surface of the desiccant, then mound more dessicant around and over them.
Drying will take several weeks, depending on the density of the flowers. When they're dry, carefully unbury them, gently brush away any adhering desiccant with a soft artist's brush, and store them in covered boxes in a dry place until ready to use.
 ©2006 Publications International, Ltd. A bouquet of dried annuals is a year-round treat. |
A third drying method is to press flowers and leaves between layers of absorbent blotting paper or paper towels. The drawback to this method is that everything comes out flat. But for use in pictures, notepaper, or as a frame around a motto or wedding announcement, flowers dried this way can be very effective.
This technique works best with small flowers that are not very thick, such as pansies, petunias, and baby's breath. It is also suited for parts of flowers, such as single petals of sweet peas, poppies, and cosmos.
To dry, start with a piece of heavy cardboard at the base; then lay a sheet of drying paper on top. Carefully arrange flowers and leaves, making sure that there is space between them. Lay one or two more layers of drying paper on top. Arrange another layer of leaves and flowers.
Keep alternating until there are a half dozen layers of plant materials. Top these with more drying paper and a final piece of cardboard. Finally, place a heavy weight on top of the stack. Moisture will be squeezed out of the flowers into the paper.
Check after a week to see how drying is progressing. If any mold has formed, remove and replace the drying paper. After several weeks, the plant materials will be ready to use or store.
Use desiccant to dry the following flowers: Dahlia*, Nasturtium, Gladiolus, Petunia, Hollyhock, Double pink, Lantana, Snapdragon, Larkspur, Verbena, Marigold*, Zinnia* *Use wire stem |
The remaining pages in this article contain helpful charts that were referred to in the previous sections. Print out these charts for a quick reference to make planting and maintaining your annuals garden easy and trouble-free.
