Can someone identify these dried flowers?

[jennyannlowe]

Can someone identify these dried flowers?

I forget what they are. I'm going to be infusing oils tonight with some herbs I've been saving for this purpose....some lavender, mint, Rosemary, etc.

I was looking through my stuff and I found these dried flowers.

I forget what they are. Can somebody help me out?

thank you!

 

[Stacyspy]

I'm not sure what the first ones are, but the others are helichrysum bracteatum, or strawflowers.

 

[DeeAnna]

I thought of rose petals for the first packet. Strawflowers definitely for the others.

 

[Misschief]

I thought of rose petals for the first packet. Strawflowers definitely for the others.

That was my thought on the first packet as well.

 

[jennyannlowe]

Thanks !

 

[newbie]

I can't tell from your pic but could the orange ones be Chinese Lantern flowers?

 

[jennyannlowe]

Not sure, I'll look closely when I get home from work.

 

[penelopejane]

Not sure, I'll look closely when I get home from work.

I thought they might be the orange trumpet flower but I'm on my mobile so can't see the photo very well.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/vines/trumpet-vine/growing-trumpet-vines.htm

 

[Susie]

Newbie is correct. Chinese lantern flowers.

http://landscaping.about.com/od/landscapecolor/p/chinese_lanterns.htm

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Newbie is correct. Chinese lantern flowers.

http://landscaping.about.com/od/landscapecolor/p/chinese_lanterns.htm

I don't think so. The foliage doesn't nearly match and there are no fruits.

 

[Stacyspy]

Did you by chance save a bouquet of flowers that you received? I ask because after a closer look, the top pic has limonium in it along with the petals, a type of lavender. Florists use use it as a filler flower.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Did you by chance save a bouquet of flowers that you received? I ask because after a closer look, the top pic has limonium in it along with the petals, a type of lavender. Florists use use it as a filler flower.

Aha, that's why it doesn't match the petals (or pods, if it's chinese lantern).

 

[jennyannlowe]

Before I got into soaping, I painted and I created mixed media projects. I would buy art and crafts supplies from people on Craigs list. I'd get big "lots". A lot of times I would really want half the stuff and I'd end up with a lot of extra stuff that I just put on a shelf. I always ended up using it because I have a lot of hobbies. But these dried flowers were one of those extra items. When I first got them, they were very fragrant. Now that they are dried I was thinking of putting some in a jar with some olive oil and few drops of vitamin e for an oil infusion.

Thanks!

 

[earlene]

I don't think so. The foliage doesn't nearly match and there are no fruits.

To me the foliage looks like stasice, which suggests they don't belong with the flowers in the first place. But I could be wrong, of course.

I see that limonium and stasice are the same thing, so it looks like we are in agreement, Stacyspy.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

To me the foliage looks like stasice, which suggests they don't belong with the flowers in the first place. But I could be wrong, of course.

I see that limonium and stasice are the same thing, so it looks like we are in agreement, Stacyspy.

Indeed. I'm still not quite buying Chinese lantern though. My first thought was that they look like Bearded Iris petals, but that's not a guess so much as an association.

 

[earlene]

Indeed. I'm still not quite buying Chinese lantern though. My first thought was that they look like Bearded Iris petals, but that's not a guess so much as an association.

Now that's a lovely shade. I wouldn't mind an iris of that color in my yard! I've never been fond of Chinese Lanterns, but I've always like Irises.

 

[jennyannlowe]

So if I'm making oil infusions for scent only....olive oil with little vitamin E....as long as it smells good, I it Don't matter if the flowers are mixed? I would strain it before using it in soap.

 

[kchaystack]

So if I'm making oil infusions for scent only....olive oil with little vitamin E....as long as it smells good, I it Don't matter if the flowers are mixed? I would strain it before using it in soap.

Except the scent is very unlikely to survive saponificaton.

 

[jennyannlowe]

I see. So are oil infusions better for leave on type products?

 

[DeeAnna]

It depends on what you're infusing and why -- there's no single right answer, Jenny. Some active ingredients are water soluble, others are oil soluble. You'd want to make a water infusion (tea) for the first and oil infusions for the second. For example, the active ingredients in jewelweed are best collected in a water infusion. Balm of gilead (cottonwood or poplar resin) is best harvested by an oil infusion. Sometimes water or oil infusions of a plant work equally well; I think calendula probably falls in this category. Tinctures (alcohol infusions) can sometimes bridge both sides of the fence by dissolving both water and oil based ingredients, but sometimes you don't want to deal with alcohol, so this too is not a universal solution.