Gardeners have their favourite flowers and for Elaine Martin, when June arrives it’s the appearance of the perennial peony that tops her list. She fills her home with fragrant bouquets in June and July and also manages to extend their stay by creating dry arrangements.

The studio Martin operates in Toronto’s Distillery District features splashes of pink peonies poked into wreaths, arranged like a hedge or spilling from a container that will last for “many, many years”. The seasoned gardener and floral designer feeds her passion for the pink blooms by bringing in armloads of peonies picked fresh at a peony farm. There are two techniques she uses to dry them and preserve their beauty. Even their fragrance is preserved for a time.

Martin recently discovered that a floral arranging method that was used in France in the 1600s accommodates the drying process. She found that when the stems are cut short and inserted into floral foam, there is sufficient support to hold the stems upright so they don’t bend over and simply wilt. No water is added to the foam when using this method for drying.

“It’s a style of flower arranging that is very French.”

The technique, called “hedging”, requires the flowers to be arranged in straight rows. The round bud heads are cut short and inserted into a floral foam base, all at the same height. Since this is where they will dry, no water is added to the arrangement. Martin likes the way this geometric contemporary look works with contemporary home décor. Her peony “bed” design incorporates a container with ball-shaped feet that echoes the peony heads lined up above.

Reviving the centuries-old technique has mostly been a successful experiment but Martin says it can be “a little bit all-in-the-way-you-hold-your-mouth”. A more traditional method is to hang them to dry. Martin takes five or six stems, binds them together with an elastic band and hangs them upside down in a dry place out of direct sunlight. She recommends elastics be used rather than string or twine since the elastic will tighten around the stems as they shrink and prevent them from falling out. They’ll be ready for arranging in several days or up to a week, depending on the humidity that year, advises Martin.

It’s important to cut the peonies at just the right time. If they open too far, the seeds will be exposed. They need to be past the bud stage but still have a curl to their petals. Martin will cut peonies as buds and wait for them to open to optimum size before drying them for arrangements and wreaths. This also gives her a chance to enjoy them as a cut flower for a time. As gardeners know, peonies attract ants. She suggests dipping the flower heads in water and swishing them around to disperse the unwelcome insects.

Martin recommends a hedging bud vase to display fresh blooms. The oblong-shaped vase has a row of small round openings along the top instead of an open mouth. A container with a wide opening can accommodate peonies with the help of a florist’s frog to anchor the stems and hold them in place. This floral arranging aid sits at the bottom of the container and stems are pushed into its fine protruding loops.

A foam wreath is transformed into pink perfection as Martin sticks stem after stem into the circular shape. She adds no other flowers, no leaves, “we’re just going to enjoy and celebrate pink” she says.

“In all of these instances because the peony is so beautiful, I don’t mix it with anything else. I just want it to be pretty in pink.”

Martin shares her passion for peonies during workshops in June and July. To find out more about Vintage Gardener visit the website at www.vintagegardener.com.