As we take stock at the end of the year and make plans for the new one, perhaps you are considering crafting a thriving plant collection. Great! The benefits of plants are numerous and well documented. But for those without a green thumb, myself very much included, may I present a whimsical alternative for becoming a plant parent: dried flowers.
Okay, perhaps you’ve already admitted that you can’t keep a windowsill garden alive for long and you’ve committed to fresh flowers, as they’re less fussy in terms of care than, say, a fiddle-leaf fig tree. But fresh flowers last only days or weeks and aren’t the most environmentally friendly option, especially if you buy a replacement bouquet once they’ve wilted. In an attempt to keep one’s living space decorated with fresh flowers, one can easily fall into a weekly spending cycle. Enter dried flowers, a one-time investment that lasts forever—or at least into the unforeseeable future.
Dried flowers, of course, give off a different vibe than fresh flowers do, the latter of which make a living space feel like they belong to someone who is a regular at their local farmer’s market. Dried flowers, however, are quirky, playful, and dramatic, like if Halloween took place on May 12. And truly, their appeal lies in this juxtaposition. They’re romantic but technically dead, of springtime but of wintertime too. In fact, they feel oddly appropriate for every season—not too morbid for spring or summer, but not too vibrant for fall or winter.
While there’s a macabre element to dried flowers, I’d argue that they’re less morose than fresh flowers slowly wilting in your dining room. When I think about dried flowers, I wonder if maybe preserved flowers are inherently less tragic than those in bloom, slowly decaying with every moment. If a bouquet of fresh flowers is a display of “death in life,” perhaps a bouquet of dried flowers is a display of life in death—and that’s a particular kind of beauty fitting of springtime or, well, anytime.
Certain preserved flowers do tend to feel more morbid or more vibrant. Because of how often roses and peonies are showcased blooming in a vase, their dried counterparts feel especially gothic. Meanwhile, Craspedia flowers, commonly known as billy buttons, are far less often seen in solo bouquets, so their dried form doesn’t immediately bring to mind the appearance of a fresh Craspedia bouquet. Also, Craspedia is most often seen in a shade of bright yellow, adding to their vibrancy as a dried flower.
Dried bouquets of a singular flower or a mixed collection can be purchased from a local florist, multiple online shops, or sellers on Etsy. Because of their independent nature—requiring neither sunlight nor water—dried flowers ship well, with the main concern being their stems snapping or heads detaching. (In my experience, this does happen, but not often.)
This is not to discourage you from filling your home with whatever form of plant you like, but rather, to point you in the direction of an often overlooked option. Dried flowers combine convenience, thrift, sustainability, and beauty all in one unique package, one I feel has been overlooked for far too long. Maybe, just maybe, this will be their year.
