Bex Partridge\u2019s dried-flower creations preserve the fleeting beauty of flowers, foliage and seedheads. Words Lia Leendertz, photographs Andrew Montgomery <\/p>

\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t expect the scent,\u201d says Bex. \u201cIt is a bit like opening a spice drawer, if more floral. At the moment I have lots of artemisia drying here and the smell is divine.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
How to dry flowers<\/a><\/p>\n
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The studio is in the half-acre garden of the house on the Devon-Dorset border where she lives with her husband and two sons, and overlooks her flower patch. But she started her dried-flower business<\/a> when they lived in Surrey. \u201cI had always worked in corporate office-based jobs, but I always gardened.\u201d When her second son was born, she found that life had slowed down. \u201cI was noticing things. I began growing more and shifted our allotment<\/a> to flowers. And then I left a bunch in a vase until they dried out and my interest was piqued.\u201d<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t particularly love fresh dahlias but when you allow them to dry, they are stunning <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
She started putting together wreaths<\/a> and bouquets, and selling them via a website and Instagram, and now she is often commissioned to create dried-flower installations for people\u2019s homes and for retail spaces: delicate curtains of floating single flowers or floral boughs dripping with amaranth and hops. She loves the subtlety of dried flowers. \u201cI know it\u2019s not a popular opinion but\nI don\u2019t particularly love fresh dahlias<\/a>. I find them exuberant and hard to work with. But when you allow them to dry, they are stunning. It\u2019s the muted tones, the softness, the textures, the intricacies. Dried flowers draw you in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her beautiful creations certainly look like an artfully curated slice of countryside. \u201cThe aesthetic qualities of my work reflect my life now,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m so immersed in the natural world here, it\u2019s in tune with the seasons, it\u2019s organic, it\u2019s wild, and a little bit magical.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Everlasting wreath<\/strong> Bex makes her wreaths in a half-moon shape, which has become her signature style. Here she has used a base of woven and twisted vine stems to create the shape, and then has woven in pink and white dried baby\u2019s breath (Gypsophila<\/em>), fluffy seedheads of old man\u2019s beard (Clematis vitalba<\/em>), and dried heads of Achillea ptarmica<\/em> \u2018The Pearl\u2019. The result is an airy, almost cloud-like, wreath.<\/p>\n
$\"""\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Floral artist Bex Partridge picks fresh Xerochrysum bracteatum<\/em> from her garden on the Devon-Dorset border. These she dries in her studio to create her beautiful dried bouquets and wreaths.<\/p>\n
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As well as being practical, hanging bunches of flowers upside down for drying also makes a stunning display in Bex\u2019s compact work space.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nDahlias<\/a> and asters<\/a> hang from a magnolia branch to dry out in Bex\u2019s studio<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
An everlasting floral display, featuring winged everlastings and sea lavender alongside ethereal dried dahlias, held in place with a vintage metal flower frog nestled in a hand-crafted ceramic bowl.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>Dried flower bouquet<\/strong> \u201cDried flower bouquets can make beautiful gifts for friends and loved ones,\u201d says Bex. \u201cIt is a way of extending the best of the summer blooms.\u201d Here she has combined lady\u2019s mantle (Alchemilla mollis<\/em>), with strawflower (Xerochrysum bracteatum<\/em> \u2018Silvery Rose and White\u2019), quaking grass (Briza media<\/em>) and white larkspur (Consolida ambigua<\/em>).\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nFlower crowns<\/strong> Bex uses coated wire to create the bases for her flower crowns, which are popular with brides as they can be kept for many years and hung on the wall for decoration. Here she has used the winged everlasting flower Ammobium alatum<\/em> combined with Origanum<\/em> \u2018Kent Beauty\u2019, an astrantia and Cupid\u2019s dart (Catananche caerulea<\/em>) seedheads<\/a>, finished with a natural-dyed ribbon. Bex only uses plant-dyed ribbons, which tone in with the soft muted colours of her pieces.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nBex prefers the muted tones and textures of dried dahlias, seen here with hellebores<\/a> and peonies<\/a>, to the freshly picked flowers.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nBex\u2019s studio with hanging dahlias mid drying and others stored in crates. She also plant-dyes her own ribbons and strips of fabric.\n
Useful information<\/strong><\/p>\n
See more of Bex\u2019s work on Instagram @botanical_tales<\/a> and find details of her online and in-person workshops at botanicaltales.com For sources of dried flowers for your own projects, Bex recommends looking for dried flower growers on the Flowers from the Farm website<\/a>, a resource for UK flower growers<\/p>\n
This feature appeared in Gardens Illustrated magazine. Subscribe here<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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