From tea towels to fashion, this fall you'll find that mushrooms are having a well-deserved moment. It's hard to pinpoint the exact origin that made mushrooms popular. Some say it's due to the rising interest in psychedelics, others say it's due to our love of retro fashion such as the 60s and 70s, and others say their popularity is tied to the growing awareness of our natural world. Whatever the cause, the mushroom trend is real and we are here for it.
We have a few products across our collections that feature preserved mushrooms. You may wonder what this even looks like, after all, mushrooms are quite round and spongey making them less than ideal for preserving. The key when it comes to preserving any flower or in this case mushroom is to dehydrate them. Normally with cut flowers we may use silica gel or hang them upside down, however, with mushrooms we approach the process a little differently.
There are many tutorials across the internet with different methods to dry mushrooms depending on the end result you want. For our floral work, we prefer shelf mushrooms that once dried are glued to a wooden stick so that we can easily pop them into arrangements. While we don't dry the mushrooms ourselves, preferring to purchase them from our trusted vendor, we love the look mushrooms take on once dried.
The drying process preserves all the quirks and textures on a mushroom. The best part is the highly textured underside with its many gills creating a strangely beautiful texture. It strays from the normal definition of beauty that we give to flowers such as roses and peonies, but it's a reminder of nature's own beauty and how diverse that is.
Since preserved mushrooms are so textured and different, we love incorporating them in our fresh flower arrangements among other creations. We like the contrast of something so rough and unexpected against delicately soft fresh flowers. Again, its like a nod to nature and the expanse of beauty on our planet.
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We currently have two fresh flower arrangements that feature a mushroom. The first is the Leviosa arrangement which comes in a clean, modern container in white and is filled with orange marigolds, shimmer roses, snapdragons, and plumes of pampas grass.
The second is the Happy Harvest arrangement which includes chrysanthemums, yellow roses, and flexed tulips. The tulips are one of my favorite features in this arrangement because of the way they are flexed revealing a gorgeously bright red-orange interior. The warm tones in this arrangement are perfect for fall and evoke that feeling of coziness. It reminds me of pumpkin patches and scarecrows, classic images of fall time.
The preserved mushrooms in both arrangements are an unexpected twist that pairs well with the fresh flowers. Once the flowers have expired one can keep and reuse the mushroom for crafts and other arrangements.
We also include a preserved mushroom in Botanica, a potted orchid arrangement featuring a mini double spiked orchid. We simply love the fairytale feel this arrangement has with the mushroom and moss. Mushrooms naturally have such a fairytale look to them that it adds a touch of magic to this arrangement. It's a wonderful gift for a nature lover and is the perfect size to display on a desk or coffee table.
If you want even more dried elements, we have Polly, an arrangement of all dried elements such as thistle, pampas grass, and the addition of two mushrooms. What perhaps makes Polly our best seller from our preserved collection is the soothing color scheme. The mushrooms and pampas grass are a wonderful neutral color while the dark blue of the thistle adds a touch of color without being jarring. It's been especially popular as a home decor gift because it goes so well with any space.
I think the mushroom trend may be here to stay and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a staple for fall. There's a definite staying power to mushrooms due to their charm and a strong reminder of the natural world we often feel disconnected from, so what better way to embrace nature in your space than by surrounding yourself with flowers and mushrooms?
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