Name: Dried flowers. Age: Old. How old? Very. Brightly coloured flowers were found in Egyptian tombs, so about 4,000 years old. Ornamental nosegays became popular in the 16th century. Can any flowers be dried? Some lend themselves to the process better than others. Hydrangeas, salvia and xeranthemum are all good. Don’t they just wilt and wither? Not if you do it right. Flowers can be simply hung in a ventilated area, dried with hot air in a special drying chamber, or dried using silica gel. In 1813, the process of freeze-drying was introduced to the Royal Society in London by a chap named William Hyde Wollaston. Yeah, fascinating. But why are we talking about it now? Valentine’s Day? Because it’s hot. Freeze-drying? NO! The whole process, as well as the dried flowers themselves. They’re very in. What, those dusty old things you might find on the mantelpiece in a B&B in Bexhill-on-Sea? Time to rethink that, and them. Why? Because sales of dried flowers have, well, bloomed in the UK during the pandemic. Bloomin’ heck. Stop it. But yes, up 115%. Any reason? Bex Partridge – a florist and the author of Everlastings: How to Grow, Harvest and Create With Dried Flowers – says that many British flower farmers, faced with Covid-cancelled weddings, suddenly had to figure out what to do with their blooms. So they dried them? Exactly. And has the fresh flower industry dried up? No. Unsurprisingly, the global floral industry, which relies on global supply chains and fully open borders, has been hit hard. But the fact that supermarkets have remained open has been a lifeline. Presumably Brexit is not going to help in the UK? Fresh flowers aren’t generally improved by spending time in warehouses and lorry parks. The former Tory minister John Redwood says we need to take back control of our flower production, obviously. Along with cheese and veg and all the rest of it. Yay, English roses all round. Also daffodils, shamrocks and thistles (until they rejoin). Or dried flowers. Exactly. “It’s not either or,” says Partridge. “It’s just another way to use flowers.” Try to think beyond the dust and the chintz. And you don’t have to spend loads of money: get out there, find some interesting seed heads, teasels, old bracken, whatever, and mix them with some fresh flowers. Are you telling me this is going to be my new lockdown interiors thing? Well, you’ve got a kneely chair, and the bed desk, and painted the kitchen sage green because you read that was the thing to do; dried flowers is the next logical place to go. Do say: “Loving the delicate poppy heads against the wispiness of the grasses, and the bold purple statice, my early Valentine …” Don’t say: “I’ve got a dust allergy, in the bin with those, Grandma.”