The awesomeness of strawflowers, in the garden and beyond

There are so many wonderful flowers that can light up an early autumn garden but I can’t think of one that brings so much to the party as Strawflowers, also known as Paper daisies. Gorgeous colours? Check. Easy to grow? Check. Some weird attribute that makes it a stand out? I think blooms that have the feel of crisp paper is wonderfully weird. So, check! And then there’s all the fun D.I.Y. crafty possibilities that the cut flowers offer. Huge check!

Those crispy, papery petals of Xerochrysum bracteatum aren’t really petals at all but bracts. The actual petals that make up the true flower of the plant are part of the dense disc you see in the centre of each bloom. Native to Australia, they’re members of the Aster family and, when situated well (see below) can bloom continuously from June through September.

They light up the garden with super saturated colours including jewel-toned purples, golds and oranges and they add wild texture (who can resist touching the blooms and giving them a little squeeze to test their crispness?). But that’s not all. Strawflowers are accommodating and beneficial to pollinators. They even help out the gardener by bringing brightness to drier parts of the garden.

Strawflower basics

Drought tolerant
Heat tolerant
Grows to about 3 feet tall but dwarf varieties in the 12″ range are available
Average to dry, well-draining soil
Full sun
Treated as an annual in Canada
Attracts butterflies
Great choice for xeriscaping

Of course, every plants has its peculiarities…

Tricky things you should know

Deadheading is important to keep the plant bushy and producing more blooms
Best planted in a west or south-facing bed
The tall varieties may need support from stakes
Do not overwater. Strawflowers can be susceptible to downy mildew, stem rot, root rot and wilt
To harvest for floral arranging and drying, cut stems in the morning before the blooms are only partially open

and then there’s the D.I.Y. fun

After your strawflowers have done so much for the garden, they still offer more. Later in the fall when you might be staying indoors a little more and your fingers are itching to make something marvellous with some of your garden’s bounty, all you’ll need is some dried strawflower blooms and, quite possibly, a glue gun.

FLORAL WREATH: I’ll admit it. This idea came directly from Captain Obvious. But hear her out. When it comes to dried flowers, few plants offer more colour options that dry beautifully without loosing their colour intensity than strawflowers. When you want to make a vibrantly hued wreath, seasonally-themed or otherwise, strawflowers are your best bet. For inspiration and how-tos, check out Wildflora’s DIY Straw Flower Wreath page.

HANGING ORNAMENT: Essentially, you take a globe of some sort and cover it with dried strawflower heads. Then add a ribbon loop for hanging. Voila! The globe can be made of plastic, in which case you attach the flower heads with a glue gun. If you have a styrofoam ball, you can attach the flowers with floral pins. For great inspo, check out Fine Gardening’s Easy To Make Strawflower Ornament video.

GARLANDS OR LEIS: Stringing flowers together to make a lei or a garland may sound like the simplest craft of all but just google Strawflower garlands and prepare to be awe-struck. For the patient craftsperson with plenty of time on their hands and tons of strawflower blooms, the colour-gradient garland may be your ultimate challenge. Blooms are first sorted by colour and intensity of colour from light to deep and then strung on a thread or cord in precise order so that the colours fade from intense to pale and back again as your eye follows the line up. Or you can just buy one.

3D ART COLLAGE: Take one shadow box (available through Michael’s), remove the display board and glue the flowers onto it in some kind of artful manner, then put the shadow box back together. Easy peasy. Or you can just buy it.