The golden rule is to pick often, this way it takes a couple of minutes, seems effortless and yet the material will mount up very quickly. Try to hang or prop upright as soon as you pick or at least on the same day. If you cannot, then stand your flowers in cold water in a cool place. Most flowers need to have their leaves stripped off, at least at the bottom of the stem. Flowers that are to be hung should be arranged so that the heads are not all crushed together, but staggered and then tied. Try to group by colour to make arranging easier later. Trim off the stems so that they are all the same length, as this makes storage a lot easier! For large flowers like Hydrangea hang no more than three or four together. The easiest way

to tie your flowers is with elastic bands – be sure to make sure it is tight as the stems will shrink during the drying process. You can dry the flowers anywhere you have enough room to hang them – from an airing cupboard to the garage to your kitchen. The main considerations are ventilation, that the air is dry and keeping them as dark as possible (or at least out of direct sunlight). Just watch out for signs of mildew or mould and be totally ruthless and throw away anything affected. You can store the dried flowers wrapped in paper and in cardboard boxes or bring them in to us as soon as they are ready. Good luck, have fun and thank you!

Drying tips

Drying flowers is incredibly easy and rewarding, all you need is a few tips to get started and don’t forget you don’t need to have a garden to grow some of these flowers, try growing some of the annuals in a pot

Help us decorate Baddesley Clinton for Christmas

For any other growing and drying tips don’t hesitate to contact our senior gardener Lucy at: lucy.simpson@nationaltrust.org.uk

Alchemilla Mollis Lady’s mantle Cut from the base of the stem when the flowers are nearly fully formed.

Echinops Globe thistle Cut when the round flowers are just coming out

Eryngium Cut when the flowers are nearly out

Gypsophila paniculata Baby's breath Cut when the tiny flowers are fully out

Physalis Alkekengi Chinese lantern Cut when the orange colour appears in the majority of the lanterns, chop off from the base, strip off all leaves,

Solidago Golden rod Cut when the flowers are nearly showing yellow, almost before the tips have coloured. Leave on the leaves near the flower spike, stripping only from the base.

Hydrangea macrophylla Pick with about 10” stem when the central floret within each flower is about to wither and the flower petals feel leathery. Leave upright to dry.

Rosa Rose Pick after several dry days. Pick when the buds are well formed but before any are open. Strip off all the lower leaves and dry upside down in the warmest, driest heat you have!

Lavendula Lavender Cut when the flower heads have just formed and are still tightly closed.

Althaea Rosea Hollyhock Deep pink or red flowers work best. Cut when the flowers at the base of the stem are fully out, and others nearly out but the top flowers still tightly closed. The bottom flowers may fall or need to be cut off for hanging

Nigella Damascena Love-in-a-mist Cut from the base of the stem when some of the seedpods have formed.

Papaver Poppy Cut when the seed heads are fully formed and greeny-blue. Cut at the base of the head and remove all the leaves.

Helichrysum Everlasting or straw flowerSow seeds indoor in late spring, plant out in June.

Cut when the outer two rows of petals are out and the interior is still tightly closed (don’t worry if they have opened up further than this they are still lovely).

All the flowers here are good for air-drying (hanging upside down) however there are plenty of others that are worth trying

Linonium sinuatum Statice

Sow seeds indoor in spring; plant out in a very sunny spot in June

Cut when the flowers are fully out. Hang up or prop up in a vase.

Linonium suworowii Russian staticeSow seeds indoor in spring; plant out in a very sunny spot in June.

Cut when the flowers are fully out. Hang up or prop up in a vase.

Craspedia Uniflora Sow seeds indoor in late spring, plant out in June.

Cut when the flower heads are nearly out.

Delphinium consolida Larkspur Sow direct where they are to flower April – May. May need some staking.

Cut when the flower heads are nearly out

In your seed packets Others you may have at home

Please get involved. Do any of the flowers in this leaflet already grow in your garden? Would you like to be involved and contribute towards our Christmas decorations at Baddesley? Let us know by getting in touch with Lucy, our senior gardener and following the drying tips on the back of this leaflet. We’d love to have as many people get involved as

possible and to showcase beautiful dried flowers from your garden at Baddesley during the festive season.If you use social media don’t forget to show us your progress on Facebook or Twitter by tagging us or using #ChristmasatBaddesleyWe would love to see how you are getting on and you can also follow our progress.

Christmas at Baddesley Clinton is always a very special time of year when we welcome our supporters to visit the house and gardens decorated for the festive season.

For any other growing and drying tips don’t hesitate to contact our senior gardener Lucy at: lucy.simpson@nationaltrust.org.uk

This year at Baddesley Clinton we need your help. We are decorating the house in Tudor style but we are adding an extra colourful twist of lots of beautiful dried flowers throughout the house. This will give us an opportunity to showcase the outdoors indoors and to celebrate the festive season colourfully, drawing on our own beautiful gardens and giving our supporters a chance to be involved and contribute towards the decorating of Baddesley Clinton this Christmas.