Grab some freebies from your garden for next year!
I pick off dried marigold flowers and save in a paper bag (labeled) to plant next year. Each dried flower contains tons of seeds!! Also, you can root sprigs of rosemary and impatiens in water and keep in a sunny window, to plant next year.
Also, look around for pretty or fragrant herbs and flower heads, pine needles, little pine cones and leaves for a homemade potpourri. Just dry (the simplest way is to put them in a basket and leave in a dark dry space. Shake now and then). When they are dried, you can add dried orange peel, cinnamon sticks broken, or whole, bay leaves, etc. then shake a few drops of essential oil (I like cinnamon) and put out in a pretty bowl for your own homemade welcome to fall!
If you have hydrangeas, pick off flowers now, and put them in a basket, they will dry naturally and look gorgeous!!
Many other flowers have seeds hidden in their dried heads, such as zinnias. I also harvest seeds from any flower that produces a brown seed pod, such as lady's slipper or touch-me-nots. You can save the whole pod or carefully break it open on one end and tap out the tiny black seeds. I save the seeds in reused plastic jars (such as peanut butter) in the refrigerator. The cool temp. keeps the seeds more viable for spring planting. Just scatter the seeds wherever you want plants! don't forget to save the seeds from your dill flowers as well!
Don't forget the bee balm. Our leaves get used for tea, and the petals are eaten right off the flower. It is a great possibility they would be good in your dried flower mix. Bee Balm (also called Manarda) is a spice and also used as a diuretic.
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