Drying sedum flowers
Slap me if you see me doing this in the future. I never learn.
Every autumn I marvel at the fantastic colours of the sedums (stone crop) flowers in the garden. All summer they have been relentlessly green.
And then the alchemy begins. Most of mine are Autumn Joy (herbssfreude) and they will start to turn crimson from about late September.
And in this amazing autumn, they really are a joy. Even now two months on the colour remains. But it fades.
And every year I think, I must capture this brilliant colour and dry the flowers for a winter display.
So I start madly snipping and bunching and hanging bouquets in dark corners of 
my office.
And every year all I get is a blah display of dying flowers with the added thrill of aphids and something slimy which attacks the leaves.
If you know the magic solution (glycerine?) let me know. And in the meantime I just have to resist the urge to snip and enjoy them in the garden.
Or do like Artur and use them as a shade cover when this ridiculous Indian summer throws too much heat and he can hide near the shade of the thick stalks.
2nd September 2019 @ 7:01 pm
Pull all the leaves off before drying. They sap the color from the flower and just turn yellow. You don’t need to hang them, but you can. Just pop them in a vase. 2 1\2 weeks is average drying time.
3rd September 2019 @ 5:57 am
Great! Thanks, I’ll give it a go. Anything to keep that gorgeous colour going a bit longer.
10th September 2022 @ 11:59 pm
Ar base with water or no water?
11th September 2022 @ 7:48 am
Hi Lynn, I’m going to try them the same way I do with hydrangeas, a little water in the vase (no more than half an inch) and let the sedums take up that much liquid. And then leave them. I also try the trick of searing the stems in just boiled water for about thirty seconds first. Let me know how you go with yours.
30th August 2024 @ 5:29 pm
Any more information I can know about flowers and perennials, I greatly appreciate.
3rd September 2024 @ 11:44 am
Oh Susan there is a world of reading and learning ahead of you. Make it your personal passion. So many of us are self-taught. Best of luck!