Have you checked out the cost of dried floral wreaths lately? Many of them run from $50 to $100 or more. Yikes. I would much rather create my wreath from the garden than pay such high prices. If you want to make a floral wreath for fall, you’ll need to start now while there are still flowers in your garden.
Every year, I like to create a new fall wreath. In the past, I’ve made hydrangea wreaths, sunflower wreaths, rose-hip wreaths, and last year I made a sage wreath. But I’ve never made a wreath by starting with fresh flowers. So this year, I tried my hand at making a dried-in-place floral wreath.
You can use a wide variety of flowers for a beautiful dried floral wreath, but it really depends on what you’re growing in your garden. The basic ingredients include some type of greenery for the backdrop and then whatever flowers you have available. The flowers need to be a type that can dry easily without wilting.
How to Make a Dried Floral Wreath…
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
You only need a few simple supplies to make a dried floral wreath. Gather these items first before you begin.
- A styrofoam, straw, or grapevine wreath form.
- Hot glue gun
- Floral wire
- Decorative ribbon or bow (optional)
- Fresh and/or dried flowers
The first thing to do is use your floral wire to make a loop on the backside of your wreath. Take about an 18-inch piece of floral wire and fold it in half. Position it at the back of your wreath where the wreath will hang. Loop the ends around the wreath form and twist in place.
Step 2: Harvest Your Flowers
The next step is to gather the flowers you want to use on your wreath. I’m starting with fresh flowers to make my wreath. But I’m also using some dried flowers to fill in as the fresh flowers shrink. Gather your flowers and lay them out on your work surface. Harvest the fresh flowers and greens when you’re ready to use them.
For the dried flowers, pick them ahead of time and let them dry out. Just place the stems in a vase with an inch of water at the bottom. Another easy way to dry your flowers is to bundle them together and hang them upside down.
Using dried flowers is a good option if you don’t have enough fresh flowers to completely fill your wreath. You can gather your favorite flowers over time to have enough to create your floral wreath.
Tip: Gather flowers that are mature. Flowers that aren’t mature are more likely to wilt rather than dry in place. The best way to determine this is to choose flowers with sturdy stems. Try the wiggle test on your stem. To do this, wiggle the stem to see if it moves. If it does not wiggle very much, then it’s ready to harvest.
Step 3: Place the Largest Blooms First
Select your largest blooms first. Trim the stems off the flower heads. Arrange them on the wreath in a pleasing way.
Place a dollop of hot glue directly on the wreath form and attach your dried flower to the glue. You can also put the glue onto the back of the flower and attach it. For greens and flowers with stems (such as lavender), spread a little glue along the stem and tuck it into place.
For my wreath: I started with large size dahlia flowers. I knew they would shrink, but after a few days, they had shrunk significantly. As they diminished in size, I continued to add more blooms to the wreath.
Step 4: Add in Small Blooms
Next, fill in the empty spaces with the smaller size blooms. Continue adding flowers to your wreath as you like.
For my wreath: The smaller blooms were comprised of abundant strawflowers, petite dahlias, and a few zinnias.
Step 5: Fill in Gaps with the Smallest Blooms and Greenery
Finally, finish the wreath by filling in the gaps with your smallest blooms or small pieces of greenery. If desired, you can also add a ribbon or bow to your wreath.
For my wreath: I tucked in small stems of yarrow blooms. For my greenery, I encircled the inside and outside of the wreath with stems of Sweet Annie. I also tucked in a few leaves of dusty miller.
A note on the greenery: One option is to attach all the flowers, then add greenery around the edges. You can also tuck in pieces here and there. You might also decide to cover the whole wreath with your greenery first and then add your flowers on top of that. This is beneficial if you don’t have an abundance of flowers for your wreath. That way, if there are any empty spaces as the flowers dry, you won’t be left staring at a piece of white styrofoam.
Once you’ve finished with your wreath, you’ll want to allow it to dry in place before hanging it. Find a cool spot out of the sunlight and let your wreath dry flat. Periodically check your wreath for shrinkage. As flowers dry, they can shrink, leaving holes in your wreath. Carefully glue small flowers in place to fill these gaps. I like to save some matching flowers when I’m making the wreath. Bundle the stems together and hang them to dry. Now, if you need a flower or two to fill in any gaps, you have dried flowers that match.
When the flowers feel dry to the touch, hang your wreath on your porch or front door. Now you have a lovely reminder of all the beautiful flowers you grew in your garden this year.
Best Flowers for Making a Dried Floral Wreath…
Any flower that has a long vase life should work for wreath making. You’ll want to avoid flowers that quickly fade or lose their petals. Cosmos is a perfect example of a flower that is not a good choice for drying.
I also want to mention dahlias. Because of their size, they have a greater amount of shrinkage. You can attach them fresh if you need a decorative wreath right away. But just know that they will shrink considerably. For this reason, I plan ahead and dry lots of extra dahlias to add to the wreath as it dries.
Tip: If you want plenty of dried dahlias, save the flower heads of the flowers that you’ve picked for a fresh bouquet. As the flower heads dry out, set the dahlias aside to use in craft projects. That way, you can enjoy the flowers fresh and then use the dried flowers for craft projects.
Flowers for Drying in Place:
- Hydrangeas
- Dahlias (they will shrink excessively)
- Zinnias
- Strawflower
- Marigolds
- Celosia
- Amaranth
- Gomphrena
- Yarrow
- Statice
- Sunflower (lose their petals when dried fresh)
- Lavender
Greenery to Use on Your Wreath:
- Rosemary
- Lamb’s Ear
- Dusty Miller
- Oregano
- Lavender
- Eucalyptus
- Sweet Annie
- Sage
Other Items to Use in Your Fall Wreath:
There are many other garden items you might want to add to your fall wreath. For my wreath, I chose only flowers with just a few greens. However, you might want to add some of these “extras” to your wreath.
- Seed pods such as poppies and nigella (Love-in-a-mist)
- Dried flower heads such as echinacea or scabiosa (Pincushion flower)
- Dried sunflower heads
- Dried berries
- Rosehips
- Grasses and wheat stems
Helpful Tips…
- Gather more flowers than you think you’ll need. You will have shrinkage in your wreath, and you can tuck in extra dried flowers to fill in the gaps.
- Do a Pinterest or Etsy search to get some ideas for your floral wreath. I placed flowers all over the wreath, but you might enjoy a dried floral wreath that has more dried greens and fewer flowers.
- Think about your color choices. Select flower colors that are pleasing to you. You could use a monochromatic color palette with varying shades of one color, or choose a wide variety of summer colors. Keep in mind that as the flowers dry, their colors will fade and often lighten or turn to brown tones. Some of the darker colors, such as purple, will actually darken to look almost black.
- Display your wreath out of direct sunlight.
As summer winds down, make a fresh floral wreath to remind yourself of the beauty of your summer garden. Colder weather is right around the corner. So gather some of your favorite summer flowers now and enjoy an afternoon of wreath-making.
Come winter, you’ll be so glad you took the time to create a one-of-a-kind dried wreath. Not only will it remind you of the warm days of summer in your garden, but it can inspire you as you plan for next year’s garden.