Dried Flowers That Smell Amazing: What Actually Holds Scent

Lauren BaynesBy , Website Content at Bouquet Cards

If you have ever lifted a bunch of dried flowers to your nose and got almost nothing back, you were not doing it wrong. Most dried flowers have very little smell, and plenty have none at all. It is worth saying that plainly at the start, because a lot of writing on this subject hints at something dried flowers cannot really deliver.

There are exceptions, though, and they are genuinely good ones. A small group of stems hold their fragrance well after drying, and if you know which they are you can build a bunch that smells of something for months. Here is what actually works, how strong it is, how long it lasts, and what you can do to keep it going.

Why most dried flowers do not smell of much

Drying a flower means taking the water out of it. The scent of a fresh flower sits in oils that sit alongside that water, and most of them go the same way. What you are left with is shape, texture and colour, which is the real point of dried flowers, and only a trace of what the flower smelled like on the day it was cut.

So a dried bunch of hydrangea, statice, bunny tails, palm spear or preserved gypsophila will smell faintly of dry hay and paper, if anything. That is normal. It is not a fault, and it does not mean the flowers are old. If someone tells you a mixed dried bunch will fill a room, be a little sceptical.

The dried flowers and stems that do hold their scent

Almost everything that stays fragrant after drying is either a herb or something woody or spiced. That is the pattern worth remembering.

Lavender

Lavender is the one that never disappoints. Dried lavender keeps a strong, sweet, slightly dusty smell for a long time, and it is the closest thing there is to a dried flower that smells of itself. It works loose in a bunch, tied in a small bundle, or tucked into a drawer. If you only want one scented dried flower, make it this.

Eucalyptus

Dried or preserved eucalyptus has that clean, sharp, slightly medicinal smell, and it holds it well. Preserved eucalyptus, which is treated to stay soft, tends to smell for longer than air dried eucalyptus, which goes crisp and quiet more quickly.

Rosemary, mint and other kitchen herbs

Rosemary keeps its resinous, pine like smell for months. Mint stays sharp and green for a while but fades faster than rosemary. Bay, thyme and sage all dry well and smell of themselves. They look good in a bunch too, and there is no rule that says herbs belong only in the kitchen.

Chamomile

Dried chamomile has a soft apple and hay smell. It is much quieter than lavender, so you tend to notice it when you are close to the flowers rather than across the room, but it is definitely there.

Roses, up to a point

Dried roses are the honest disappointment of the list. Some varieties keep a faint sweet, papery rose smell and some keep nothing at all, and you cannot really tell by looking. Buy dried roses because they are beautiful, and treat any scent as a bonus.

Cinnamon, star anise and dried orange

These are the strongest smelling things you will find in a dried arrangement, and they are why winter and Christmas pieces smell so much more than a summer bunch. Cinnamon sticks, star anise and dried orange slices are warm and spiced, they carry across a room, and they last well because the smell sits in dense woody material rather than in a soft petal.

How long the scent actually lasts

Months, not years. That is the honest general answer, and anyone promising more is guessing. Lavender and cinnamon tend to be at the long end, mint and chamomile at the short end.

Two things shorten it. Heat, and light. A bunch sitting on a sunny windowsill or above a radiator will lose its smell noticeably faster than the same bunch on a shelf in a cooler, shadier corner. Sunlight fades the colour at the same time, so the same spot damages both at once. Moving a bunch out of direct sun is the single easiest thing you can do for it, and there is more on keeping dried flowers in good shape in our guide to how to care for dried flowers.

Getting more scent out of what you already have

The trick nobody tells you is that the smell is still in there, it just needs releasing. Squeeze or gently roll a few lavender heads between your fingers and the smell jumps up immediately. Same with eucalyptus, rosemary and mint. Crush one leaf lightly as you walk past and you get the smell back for a minute or two.

It is worth doing every so often anyway, because it tells you honestly how much fragrance is left in a bunch.

Refreshing a bunch with essential oil

You can bring a piece back with essential oil, as long as you are careful about it. A few drops is the whole job.

Where you put it changes what you smell

Scent behaves very differently depending on the room. In a small space, a hallway, a downstairs loo, a bedside table, a modest bunch of lavender is easy to notice, because there is not much air for it to disappear into. In a big open kitchen or a high ceilinged living room, the same bunch will smell of almost nothing unless you are standing right over it. If you want a dried bunch to register in a large room, put it somewhere people pass close to rather than in the middle of the space.

Bathrooms are the awkward one. It is exactly where people want something that smells nice, and it is the worst room in the house for dried flowers. Steam and damp make dried stems go limp and cloudy, they can pick up mould, and the scent goes quickly. If your bathroom has a window you actually open and it stays dry, you might get away with it. Most do not.

Weddings and events

If you want a room to smell of flowers on the day, that comes from fresh flowers and foliage, not dried. Fresh eucalyptus, herbs, garden roses, stocks and lily of the valley all put scent into a space in a way dried stems never will. Dried work earns its place at a wedding for the things it is good at, holding its look all day, travelling well and being kept afterwards. Plenty of couples use both, and our fresh flowers pages cover that side.

A quick word on us

Bouquet Cards is a Hampshire brand, part of DJSJ Floral Limited, working out of the workshop at The Petal Boutique, 6 The Fairground, Weyhill, near Andover SP11 0QN. Our dried flower orders are fulfilled by driedblooms.co.uk, and fresh flowers come from The Petal Boutique for Winchester, Andover, Salisbury and Basingstoke. If you are after something with a bit of smell to it, ask us and we will point you at the lavender and the herbs rather than sell you something quiet.