Today on At Home with Flowers- I’m creating a Strawflower Arrangement- from Strawflowers I grew in the Garden. My friend Delilah at Suntory Flowers- sent me some of these amazing plants to try (Granvia Series- Supersized Strawflowers- Learn More Here!) Delilah sent me Granvia Gold, Granvia Harvest Orange and Granvia White… they also come in Pink and Crimson… Check out the link above to see all the Colors.
Granvia is a Heat Loving Plant… and is draught tolerant as well… I love the way they look in the garden- but also I am Crazy about them in a Cut Flower Arrangement… today I’m creating a quick 5 Minute Bouquet- that you can make at home- with these lovely flowers that are arranging friendly but will also dry for longevity- and become a keepsake.
 
We used these flowers in Season 7 of J Schwanke’s Life in Bloom – Flower Crafts Episode #708… where I used the blooms I had harvested all summer to create a crafted piece of art – to hang on the wall… You can watch this Episode- at the Link Above!
The Magical Thing about Granvia- or Strawflowers is that they dry… and you can cut them at any stage- and they will dry magnificently… Pay special attention the last few minutes of this week’s FREE At Home with Flowers Video… to really appreciate the beauty of these flowers.. they are incredible…
Fast Forward to today… I have another whole box of them dried for another craft project… they truly are the flower that keeps on giving! I also love the way the sound… Yep… you heard me right… the flowers are ‘crispy’… meaning as they dry- or when the flowers brush against one another they make a wonderful textural sound… That may seem funny… but I really love that about these flowers as well.
The other great part about this arrangement- is it can be two ways… I add the flowers stem by stem in this video- but you could also arrange the stems in your hand- and then tie the stems together… and drop them it a vase…
One more fun idea- you could take this bouquet- after you have enjoyed it for several days… take the whole bunch out of the vase- and tie the stems and hang the bouquet in a cool dark location- UPSIDE Down… for a couple weeks… then you will have super long lasting dried bouquet- that you can enjoy for months- or years to come…
As you know- we film about a year ahead of time for Public Television- and the Dried Strawflower Art Piece I created is hanging on the wall and looks just like it did over a year ago… it’s pretty impressive how these Suntory Granvia – Strawflowers hold up! I hope you enjoy this fun project… and plan to plant some Granvia of your own- for arranging – in the year to come!