Pearly Everlasting

Beauties Fresh or Dried

Pearly Everlasting is an old-fashioned name for a beautiful flower--or should I say flowers? The blooming stem has long gracefully pointed leaves, almost weeping, that climb the slender stalk toward the cluster of many-petaled tiny flowers that top it off. These cleanly white flowers bloom alongside our unpaved lane beginning in early July. They make a beautiful addition to any bouquet, and set off the colors of larger, showier flowers. Up close, the flowers look almost like miniature chrysanthemums, with a small golden-green center nestled between neatly ordered petals.
Where these plants really shine is in the fact that can be used year-round. They dry beautifully. They're already quite dry and "rustly" sounding on the plant when the flowers are just beginning to open, and they stay looking fresh when dried. They're also among the sturdiest dried plants I've worked with, and don't fall apart easily being arranged.
They can be dried simply by leaving them in a vase as an arrangement, but the best way to keep the heads upright for later arranging is to dry them by tieing or rubber-banding a few stems together near the base, then hanging the cluster upside down by attaching a wire hook or clothespin to the tie. This can be suspended anywhere (like from the ceiling!) that's out of the way. I just leave them there until I want to use them, even after they're dry, because that way they don't get crushed in storage.

Feel free to use any of my pearly everlasting images on your pages, but please, please credit Diane's Designs for them, and place a link from your site back to that page or to this one. Thank you!