Achillea

DRYING AND PRESERVING
Dried flowers are an important segment of the specialty market. Growers of
dried flowers must be efficient because their products may be shipped from anywhere
at any time. Quality, however, is still a significant marketing advantage.
Producers who provide dried material should do so as a primary focus, not as
means of using up unsold fresh production. Cultural methods, harvest stage,
and postharvest techniques differ for dried production. Two ways to go out of
business: thinking that “material that could not be sold fresh can always be
dried” and that “material of inferior quality for fresh can always be dried.” Garbage
in equals garbage out. “Fresh” dried material—harvested at the optimum
stage, treated correctly, and smartly displayed—can compete with flowers anywhere
and is far more appealing than leftovers dried as an afterthought.
Dried materials are not “dead sticks and twigs,” but include colorful flowers,
preserved fruits, and soft, supple stems whose postharvest life is far superior to
that of fresh material. Significant gains in methods for rapid drying have been
made in recent years, methods that maintain the color, shape, and size of the
plant material. But methods are often poorly excecuted, and materials useful
for drying misunderstood. It is wrong to believe that dried flowers are easier to
produce than fresh; in fact, dried flower producers must produce a high-quality
fresh product before the process of drying even begins. The highest-quality
dried material begins with the highest-quality fresh material, and the trend in
the marketplace is to grow for the fresh market or the dried market, but not
both.
Dried flower producers face a great deal of competition from plastics, silks,
and other faux products. According to Shelley McGeathy of Hemlock, Mich.,
who has been producing dried material for many years, “It is more important
than ever to produce top-quality, incredibly colored dried materials. Only outstanding
preserved products will keep the market strong for dried materials.” So
the questions beg to be asked. What should one expect from dried materials?
And how is that elusive excellent quality attained?
In answer to the first question, Mark Koch of Robert Koch Industries suggests
that dried floral products should have a minimum useful life of one year.
As to the second, he has produced an excellent series of technical bulletins on the
many aspects of drying floral product; the information contained therein is easy
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