Keep the memory of summer alive by decorating your home with dried flowers

Whilst the memory of summer is fading, now is a great time to get outside and gather some blooms for drying. Here are four simple points to get started:

1. The best time to gather your flowers is towards the end of a dry day, when the flower heads have been dried in the sun. This reduces the amount of moisture in the flower which in turn reduces drying time.
2. Once you've gathered your flowerheads, tie them into smaller bunches using twine. Avoid tying them too tightly in case they break and aim to have 5 or 6 stems in each bunch to allow air around them to help them dry.
3. Next, find somewhere cool, dry and out of direct sunlight to hang them up to dry. l.
4. Most flowers dry well using this technique, some better than others. The key anomalies are dahlias which should be hung individually, an unbent paper clip is ideal for this; and hydrangeas which dry best when simply left in a vase with a small amount of water allowing them to dry gradually.