A couple of years ago when host Rebecca Kolls was visiting France, she saw some beautiful dried potted gardens. Now they're popping up all across the country, so she figured it was time to let you in on this French design.
For this project, you need only a few materials--a base, preferably something rectangular and shallow; some oasis foam; and a collection of dried flowers. The first step is to fill the container with the foam. You can glue it in the bottom if you need to secure it, but it may fit quite tightly. Now you're ready to add the flowers, working from the back toward the front.
Start with green grass, but you'll notice that the stems are rather flimsy, so when you put them into the foam, chances are good they might break. So get a hyacinth stick and put it at the base of the stems of the grass or any of the fragile stems that you might be working with. Just take some florist's tape and wrap the stems around the stick. Now you have a very sturdy base and can cut it off at the height that you need.
Push each hyacinth stick into the oasis in a straight line, making sure that the plant material stands upright and is level at the top. The spacing in between each stick depends on the thickness of the grass or flowers that you use. Don't worry about the bottom stems; you'll cover them up. But the plant material on top should be packed together tightly. Now you're ready for the next row.
Rebecca uses pink delphiniums on each end. The sticks are cut shorter than the ones in back, and the color contrasts nicely. In the center she bundles stems of lavender, which softens the look and blends beautifully with the pink. She also uses pitcher plant because it picks up the color of the grass nicely.
The key is to keep the tops level and the flowers packed together. Herbs, grasses and dried fruits such as pomegranates also look great in these arrangements. If they look floppy, don't worry--adding a row of white roses in front holds them in place.
Add burgundy celosia to fill in the lower blank area and pick up the colors above. Once the celosia is in place, you can tuck in some Spanish moss in front. This will hide the stems and give your potted garden a polished look.
This is just one look for a dried flower arrangement, but Rebecca offers some other ideas. One of her favorites is a terra-cotta pot that's filled with goldenrod, yarrow, hydrangea, pink daisies, delphiniums and lavender foliage. For a more rustic look, you can use German statice, strawflowers, baby's breath and even wheat. Also, these gardens don't have to be square. If you want a round pot, it's best to create a pyramid-shaped design, which can be casual or formal. It all depends on the container and the plant material you choose.
The best part about these gardens is that they don't need water. You may want to spritz it with a little bit of hairspray to make sure that the flowers stay intact. And unlike most gardens, this one doesn't like the sun.
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