Foraged Arrangement
November’s Foraged Finds
I am not a florist. That does not mean it holds me back from playing with flowers but it does mean that I don’t have access to the same beautiful exotic flowers like a florist would. Instead, I have to be scrappy and find my own way to build big statement arrangements.
This past summer, I created a hydrangea installation by using the flowers we had in our yard. These blooms dry beautifully and I saved them for my first workshop at Silvertoooth Stables. I wanted to demonstrate to participants at the workshop that you don’t always need to purchase flowers but can use what you have in your backyard or finds from a walk nearby.
Similarly, this month I went out to streets (literally… I’ll explain later) and found these beautiful dried natural treasures. You wouldn’t think that November would be the time for finding natural elements for floral arrangements but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even in the mid-west where everything dies off in the winter… there are still stunning plants to be found and used.
How to forage dried elements…
Call me crazy… when I drive down the highway I take note of the plants that are in bloom or dying. I look for textures and colors. I look for SAFE places to pull over and grab a few elements to play with at home. Here in the mid-west, everything dies back in October and before the highway mowers get to work in November I scramble to collect pieces to work with.
Read below to see what I found on my treasure hunt.
What I found…
I found many things to use in my arrangement this fall including dried wild sunflowers, yarrow, cattails and queens ann’s lace.
Wild Sunflowers
Wild sunflowers grew in abundance this year along the roadsides in Kansas City. They laced almost every space that wasn’t touched by mowers for weeks! Driving down the highway was beautiful as it could ever be and I just couldn’t resist jumping out to grab a few for our living room.
Yarrow
Cattails
Queen Ann’s Lace
Mystery Beauties
Of course there are always a few mystery plants that come home like these dark (almost purple) seed pods. Next summer I’m going to pay more attention as things dye off to see if I can find what they are. Until then, it’s a beautiful mystery to be enjoyed in this arrangement.
If you are inspired to bring in flowers from your backyard or from along the roadside, I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram at @silvertoothhome so I can see and share.
