How to dry peonies

 Dried peonies at home

Peonies growing in the garden

Peonies drying on my clothes airer and peony close up

Drying peonies is easy. Once they are fully dried out they seem to last forever.

I think of peonies as a wedding flower and I would love to see these made into a wreath for a wedding or a pretty ring for a bride or bridesmaid's head.

The trick is to hang a peony up to dry when it is at the right stage. If the petals fall when you touch it, it is too late. You want to dry a peony with no brown edges. Only perfect peonies will do! When a peony first starts to look a bit sorry for itself and droop a bit on the stem this is the time it needs to be hung up.

Thread a needle with cotton. Cut the stalk about four to six inches below the flower. Push the needle and cotton through the stalk about three inches below the flower. Tie your cotton so you have a loop.  Hang your flower by the loop on a clothes airer like mine or from anything where you can have the flower floating free with nothing in it's way. If you are drying several peonies make sure they are well spaced from each other. A lamp shade or light shade might be a good thing to hang from.

Peonies take a few weeks to dry out depending on the weather. Dry or fresh they are certainly my favourite flower.