Drying viburnum snowball flowers

Hurrah, this is an experiment that worked.

And I can’t tell you how surprised I am.

I inherited this shrub in the garden and had to have a good study of the leaves to determine what it is.

It’s Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’ Snowball. And if you have one, you will know that its flowering season is absurdly short.

It looks great green and then the flowers turn gorgeous fluffy white.

And then for a week you are thrilled. Huge vases of the stuff, great armfuls of delight. Things to pat when you walk past.

And then set your watch.

Yep. One big windy day and the entire area is confetti’d with the blossom which I swear only lasts a week on the shrub.

This year was no different.

Once the flowers are gone you are left with a very ordinary shrub for the rest of the year. And quite frankly, you can resent the room it will take up in a garden.

I asked Etienne to put up these racks in the garden room when he was wielding the electric screwdriver in Spring.

I needed him to tell me where the weight-bearing parts of the roof were located so I could hang these rather heavy metal rings. (Remnants from giant barrels once used to mature Cote Rôtie wine.). He and Bebere built the extension back in 2020.

And no, I haven’t got round to painting the ceiling. Or tidying the benches.

And to christen the space which is quite windy and a bit too bright for drying vivid coloured plants I hacked down lots of viburnum branches and hung them up.

And then went away for two weeks.

I came back assuming I would have confetti all over the flower arranging space and desiccated stalks.

No.

It worked. Dried flowers very stuck onto the branches rather than littering everywhere else. I think they will make fun wreaths as there is still a bit of bend.

They look a little brown, but no worse than some of the paler dahlias I dried last year.

Now all I need to do is find a way of photographing them without seeing all the gubbins of the flower arranging behind.