How to grow and dry your own flowers Flowers drying at National Trust's Cornish property Cotehele STEVEN HAYWOOD On an equally gargantuan scale is the National Trust's Cornish property Cotehele's annual Christmas celebration - a fabulous 60ft garland of dried flowers grown in their gardens. This year more than 36,000 everlasting sand flowers, straw flowers, paper daisies, roses, statice and ornamental grasses have been grown, picked, dried and fashioned into this unique display: "It's a testament to this year's garden harvest at Cotehele," says head gardener David Bouch. Each year's garland is different, depending on which flowers have done well. If you too have memories of dried arrangements that disintegrated each time you passed, creativity on this scale might inspire you to try again. You can dry almost any flower, seedhead or grass, by stripping off the leaves, tying them in a bunch and leaving to dry upside down for two to four weeks, then spraying with hairspray. Single blooms do better dried in a container half-filled with two parts borax, one part sand, then covered and sealed until dry; or immerse your flowers in silica gel until it turns pink. If you need them in a hurry, flowers can be oven-dried (with door ajar) on a tray at 150F (65C) for several hours, removing them once the petals seem stiff. Let them cool on a rack. Both lavender and chamomile do well using this method. Roses can be hung separately upside down on string tied to a curtain rail to dry. You can keep bridal bouquets in this way and preserve happy memories. For rose, hydrangea and delphinium petals for confetti, pick them from their stems, spread them on a tea towel and leave to dry for three or four days. Place in a sealed container until the Big Day. You can use dried flowers around the home in all sorts of ways: hang individual stems on wire from pendant lights; wrap bunches of dried flowers in pretty paper wraps and hang from coat hooks; press dried flower heads into an Oasis wreath or pop them into a large glass container; string stems together to make a garland or frame a mirror; or display them in small bunches packed into terracotta flower pots. I have a large, 2ft-square basket of garden lavender in the loo - although I know I should have picked it earlier for a deeper colour. Cotehele's Christmas celebration - a 60ft garland of dried flowers STEVE HAYWOOD If drying your own doesn't appeal, then try the professionals. Drying techniques have improved and colours are stronger. The Dried Flower Farm (thedriedflowerfarm.co.uk) in Beccles, Suffolk, sell bunches of home-grown flowers. They have noticed an increase in sales over the last two years, with grasses proving most popular, followed by larkspur, statice and lavender. This year, seed heads are making a comeback, probably as part of a more natural look in interior design. Sow seeds of annuals in spring in straight rows, so you can spot weeds easily. Give plants a regular liquid feed for maximum production. Pick flowers when open and at their best on a sunny day, after the dew has dried. Keep picking as flowers grow. The more you pick, the more the plant will produce. During wet periods, deadhead the flowers. Once picked, trip leaves off stems and tie in bunches. Hang in a dark, well-ventilated shed so colours stay bright and flowers don't rot. Cotehele at Saltash in Cornwall is holding several workshops on how to create Christmas garlands, willow wreaths and topiary trees, with sales of home-grown mistletoe. You can also buy seeds for flowers to dry (01579 351346; nationaltrust.org.uk/cotehele).