Everlasting flowers are the unsung heroes of garden cut flowers. Whether fresh or dried, their brilliant colours never fade, offering year-long flowers for brightening the home.

Because these flowers dry quickly and easily and retain their vivid colours, they can be used in flower arrangements with other flowers, to make dried bouquet and posies, Christmas wreaths and garlands or as a decoration for home-made gifts.

Straw flowers (Bracteantha bracteata) are the most commonly grown. They are members of the daisy family and have daisy-like flowers, but their stiff papery petals have earned them the common name of straw flowers.

There’s also Statice (Limonium) or Sea Lavender that produces clusters of papery, funnel-shaped flowers and is one of the most popular dried flowers, especially loved by florists for mixed floral arrangements.

Although not a straw flower, Craspedia is another popular filler for flower arrangements because it can be used fresh or dried. Its common name is Billy buttons for the small, round yellow heads on long stems.

What’s to like?

All three plants are drought tolerant, no-fuss plants that thrive in hot sunny gardens, in poor soil, as long as it drains well. They don’t need much watering and add to the sustainability of the garden by attracting butterflies and other pollinators.

Drying and preserving

Cut the flowers in the morning once the dew has dried but before the heat of the day. Hang the flowers in small bunches upside down in a warm, dark room. Remove the leaves before making the bunches so that they dry quicker. The flowers can also be dried in silica gel. The flowers are properly dried when the stems are crisp.

Bracteantha ‘Mohave’

‘Mohave’ is a compact bushy plant for growing alongside other drought  tolerant plants or in pots. Its large flowers come in shades of apricot, dark red, light pink, purple and yellow, with a yellow trailing variety for hanging baskets.

Plants need at least six hours of sun a day and stand up to high day temperatures. Once established they need minimal watering. For flowers from spring to autumn, cut off flowers as they die to encourage new growth and flowers. Harvest the last flowers in autumn for drying.

Statice ‘Hipster’

‘Hipster’ grows up to knee height, with clusters of flowers on stiff stems and dark, dense leaves. They are excellent cut flowers that last long in the vase and also dry well.

Plants do best in full sun, to bring out the colour of the flowers and produce sturdy pickable stems. They tolerate dry heat as well as humidity and grow in ordinary garden soil that drains well. Once established plants are drought tolerant and need very little care. Frequent cutting will encourage more flowers.

Craspedia ‘Billy Button’

Craspedia ‘Billy Button’ is a low maintenance, drought tolerant perennial that needs full sun and soil that drains well.

For impact and to stand out in the garden, grow ‘Billy Button’ in groups, but with individual plants spaced apart for good air circulation. The tall stems can stretch up to a 1m or higher. Pinching back the central growing point of young plants will stimulate more growth from the base resulting in longer stems and more flowers.

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