Everlasting Beauty: Dried Flowers with Meaning
What do the flowers in your bouquet mean? Discover the symbolism of your favourite dried flowers — how I use them in bouquets and my personal favourites for dried flower weddings and home decor arrangements.
Written by: Paula Rowley
Flowers are beautiful, of course, but what I find truly special is how they carry stories and symbolism that have travelled through generations. Long after their fresh counterparts fade, dried flowers still hold meanings of love, protection, remembrance, renewal and all the quiet human hopes we’ve attached to them over centuries.
While researching this piece, I kept coming back to how each stem, once you know it's meaning, feels like a small piece of folklore: a bit of nature that keeps speaking even after the season shifts. Flowers hold so much history, emotion, and intention. Their presence can change the atmosphere of a room or a celebration. They witness our joyful moments and our hardest ones. They’re both celebration and comfort. Beauty and decay.
So today, I’m sharing some of my favourite dried flowers, the ones I return to again and again: their stories, their symbolism, and the quiet beauty they bring into the arrangements I create.
Just a girl… completely consumed by dried flowers. Face optional.
My Favourite Dried Flowers
Rodanthus Daisy (both white and pink colours)
Also known as paper daisies, I use these a lot because they have such natural and delicate charm! Whether in soft pink or white, their papery petals feel both rustic and romantic. They hold their shape beautifully and bring a playful elegance to arrangements. Traditionally, daisies are tied to simplicity, innocence, and eternal beauty. I love how their enduring form has echoes both of quiet grace and whimsy.
Simplicity Dried Flower Bouquet- one of our many, which showcase Rodanthus.
Dried Spray Roses
A classic. Dried spray roses keep a surprisingly rich colour and a gorgeous vintage look. I love their small, delicate branching heads and they are perfect tucked into wreaths or bouquets. In floriography, roses symbolise remembrance, grace, and devotion — soft echoes of loving emotions that make them perfect for moments with meaning, whether it is Valentine’s Day, a wedding, or even as sympathy florals.
Rose and Thistle Bouquet Detail, Orange Colourway
Dried Dahlias & Dried Peonies
These are the stars of any dried bouquet they are in. While more delicate to dry, once preserved they become textured, full-bodied showstoppers. I often have to dry these myself, as they are less commercially available, which I think makes me love them even more!
- Dahlias represent elegance, inner strength, and the gentle resilience to rise with dignity.
- Peonies are tied to abundance, romance, and bashfulness — once said to grow from transformed nymphs, making them emblems of delicate allure and hidden depths.
Dreaming of Dahlias bouquet coming soon!
Dried Lavender 'Grosso'
Scented, calming, and endlessly versatile. Lavender is a staple for me. I use it in bunches, linen sachets, or as small touches in bigger arrangements. For me, its Grosso variety is a standout for its longer stems and strong scent — it is absolutely perfect for bouquet making. Lavender has been cherished for centuries as a flower of healing, peace, and protection — from ancient temples to medieval bedside charms, it’s long been associated with serenity and peace.
Serenity Meadow bouquet, close up detail
Eryngium & Echinops Thistles
These give structure and a slight edge to soft, romantic florals.
- Eryngium (Sea Holly) speaks of independence, shielding energy, and quiet strength.
- Echinops (Globe Thistle) brings associations with clarity, resilience, and mental brilliance. Folklore discusses their power to fortify focus and keep the mind sharp.
Frosted Forest posy bouquet
Astrantia (Pincushion Flower / Masterwort)
Fancifully described as "fallen starlight" Astrantia’s star-shaped bracts encircle a tight pincushion centre — creating a floral form that looks both delicate and celestial (its name stems from the Latin astrum, meaning “star”).
Symbolically, it embodies strength, protection, courage, and resilience, yet also reflects patience, purity, and fond memory, which makes it the perfect bloom for wedding bouquets.
Dreaming of Dahlias bouquet coming soon!
Bracken Ferns
So elegant, with a wild, woodland quality. I love them dried in green or naturally bronzed by autumn's coming. They are perfect as a base layer for wreaths or as solo stars in a minimal vase, but require careful harvesting if you plan to forage a few for your own projects. Bracken Ferns shouldn't be gathered or displayed indoors if they haven't yet dropped their spores.
In Celtic and Slavic lore, bracken ferns were believed to offer secrecy, luck, and even invisibility. Their tightly coiled fronds represented hidden wisdom and the quiet power of nature’s mysteries.
Forest Glow bouquet
Lunaria Seed Pods (aka Honesty)
These are pure magic and my absolute favourite seed heads. Their silvery, translucent discs shimmer subtly in light and add a moonlit softness to arrangements — ethereal and enchanting.
Lunaria is associated with honesty, spiritual clarity, and prosperity. I certainly enjoy the mindfulness involved in peeling them! Modern Folklore describes Lunaria as protecting homes from misfortune and reflecting moon magic, linking it to transformation and inner truth.
Bracken Woods bouquet- close up detail
Eucalyptus (many varieties!)
From the round-leafed Baby Blue to feathery Parvifolia, eucalyptus is a dried flower essential. It adds shape, scent, and greenery to everything I make. Bonus: it dries effortlessly — its naturally dried form adds amazing structure to bouquets, while preserved varieties keep its flexibility and flow. I love using both, often in combination!
Eucalyptus carries deep cultural ties to purification, protection, and renewal. It was traditionally burned to cleanse energy and used medicinally to open the lungs and restore vitality.
Frosted Forest bouquet in large
Helichrysums (Strawflowers)
Bright, long-lasting, and ever-smiling. They look fresh even after months – their texture is one of my favourites, almost like they're made of beetle shells with their shine and delicacy.
Helichrysums are often considered flowers of immortality, thanks to their name (helios = sun, chrysos = gold) and their refusal to fade — they really are one of the most long-lasting dried blooms in terms of holding their colour. Ancient offerings to gods often included strawflowers as symbols of eternal love and spiritual resilience.
Love in a Mist Front Facing Bouquet- Medium Size
Limonium & Gypsophila (Baby’s Breath)
Soft fillers that cloud around focal flowers — I use these in nearly every arrangement.
- Limonium represents lasting affection and remembrance. In some traditions, it’s used as a keepsake flower to honour enduring ties.
- Gypsophila, with its misty glow, is seen as a symbol of innocence, purity, and everlasting love — a gentle presence that speaks softly of devotion.
Limonium Sprigs craft pack
Buttercups & Larkspur
Small but mighty! These dainty blooms dry with surprising delicacy.
- Buttercups evoke joy, childlike wonder, and radiance. Folklore once claimed they could reveal truths and protect from faerie mischief.
- Larkspur, with its slender grace, symbolises openness, levity, and sweet temperament — I find these an amazing vertical accent in arrangements and they always add a touch of airy optimism to bouquets.
Wildflower Wonderland bouquet detail
How I Use Them
I use these dried flowers in all sorts of ways — from wreaths and wall hangings to tiny posies and larger bouquets. I love mixing structure (thistles, eucalyptus) with softness (peonies, limonium), and I often let one or two flowers shine in minimalist arrangements.
Sometimes, they speak best for themselves. I often simply place a small bunch on a shelf or let a single stem lean in a bud vase in tablescapes, where they can speak softly — but always beautifully.
Want to read more about arranging with dried flowers?
Tips for Dried Flower Care
- Keep them out of direct sunlight to prevent fading
- Avoid humidity — they last longest in dry conditions
- Dust them gently now and then with a soft brush or hairdryer on low/cool
I’ve written more on dried flower care here!
Final Thoughts
For me, dried flowers are a slow, steady kind of joy. They nudge me to look closer and appreciate the brief, delicate moments in nature.
I’d love to know: What are your favourite dried flowers? And which ones bring you joy, memory, or a little bit of magic? Did you know the meanings of some of the flowers in this blog?