From Garden to Christmas Tree

Since it's been so cold and snowy here this week, I thought I would bring you the brightness of our summer garden instead of a recipe. 

Strung on our Christmas tree this year are garlands made of marigolds that we grew all summer long in our garden. This year, I grew two varieties: Giant Orange and White Swan. These plants grow beautiful, sturdy, and prolific blooms that brighten the garden and are great for drying. 

As an herb farm, we dry a lot of plants and flowers, but not all of them end up going into our products. When that happens, I love to find ways to incorporate them into our daily lives throughout the year to remind us of the warm summer and its bounty. 

This year, I decided to string the blooms into garlands, hang them to dry, and use them for decoration throughout the year. But specifically, I wanted to hang them on our Christmas tree. 

Just like I do at our vendor booths, I try to decorate our home with homegrown and homemade decorations. There’s something especially meaningful about decorating our home with things we’ve grown ourselves and weaving the farm into our celebrations. Not because store-bought decorations aren’t beautiful, because they are, but because these carry the memory of the season that came before.

The marigolds on our tree were once rooted in our warm soil, visited by bees, and gathered by our hands on summer mornings. Now, in the quiet of winter, they remind us that beauty doesn’t have to be purchased or perfect to be lasting. Sometimes it just needs to be tended, saved, and carried forward.

Dried marigold garlands hanging our Christmas tree.

Marigolds aren’t the only flowers that lend themselves beautifully to this kind of decoration. Strawflowers, gomphrena, statice, and even zinnias can all be dried and strung into simple garlands, each carrying its own color and texture into the winter months. Like the marigolds, they’re easy to grow, generous in bloom, and hold their beauty long after the garden has gone to bed.

Marigold Garland Instructions

Making these garlands is incredibly simple. Here's what you need:

• Fresh flower blooms (marigold, zinnia, strawflower, statice, or gomphrena)
• Needle (a sturdy darning works great)
• String or twine (cotton, jute, or baker’s twine)
• A warm, dry place to hang them while they dry

Thread the needle up through the base of the flower bloom, where the stem was attached, and guide it out through the petals at the top. This helps the flowers sit flat and secure on the string as they dry. Space the blooms as you like, then hang the garland in a warm, dry place with good airflow until fully dried.

How to Store Dried Flowers

To store the garlands, lay them in a shallow cardboard box with no plastic liner and place the box in a dry closet or attic. Avoid plastic bags or bins that can trap moisture, bright light that may fade the blooms, and stacking anything heavy on top that could crush the flowers.

With the right storage, dried flowers can be kept for years. Hardy flowers like marigolds, strawflowers, gomphrena, and statice are especially long-lasting and tend to keep both color and structure better than more delicate blooms.

And if you don't want to store them, you can also display them year-round. Their colors will slowly fade over time, but the flowers will still hold their shape.

I'll write more about drying flowers this summer when we're in full bloom and we can make decorations together next year!