Sourcing material

Sourcing Material

Growing flowers to dry from seed is one of the best ways to understand the entire process, find your favourites and discover which flower varieties work best for you.

Whether you've got an allotment or a balcony, you'll surely have room to grow some varieties.

My favourite seed suppliers are:

• Chiltern seeds
• Plants of distinction
• Seedaholic

Once you've started on your growing journey, you should always consider which seeds you can save yourself. Not only will this save you money, but by leaving some plants to go to seed you'll also be making space for nature too.

Sourcing Ready-Dried Flowers

If you want to source ready-dried flowers, then I recommend the following:

• Flowers from the farm - this is a British flower growers collective who grow flowers on a small scale and more naturally than intensive growers.

If you want to buy in bulk, I'd recommend:

• Atlas flowers - here, the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. But be sure to check the origin so that you're aware of where your flowers are coming from.
• Essentially hops - this supplier is based in the UK, and they dry both flowers and hops. All the listings on their site state whether the flowers are British grown or from further afield.

Working with Nature

The flower industry is notoriously bad for the environment, with flowers regularly shipped all over the world. This is why I always encourage people to grow their own flowers if possible, and if buying, to only buy local, UK-grown flowers.

Flowers grown on industrial farms in heated glasshouses, as is often the case overseas, have a huge carbon footprint, even before they are shipped to us here in the UK.

Some flowers that are supposedly dried naturally are also sometimes bleached, sprayed with paint and glitter, or dyed with chemical dyes.

Another thing to look out for is the word 'preserved', which means that the plant or leaf has been filled with chemicals in order to keep it looking like it is in a natural state.

You Don't Need to Buy Bleached Flowers to Create Wintry Displays

While buying bleached flowers may seem like an easy option if you want to create a white display, there are many natural ways to do this yourself. Some plants to consider for this process include:

• Honesty
• Ammi
• Wrinkled cress
• White Helichrysum

You Don't Need to Buy Dyed Flowers to Create Bright Displays

If you want to create a vivid and colourful display, there are many flowers that retain their bright colour once they are dried. Some flowers to consider are:

• Statice
• Dahlias
• Helichrysum