Everlastings
This term is applied to a section of flowers with coloured bracts that retain a considerable portion of their beauty for a long time after being cut and dried. In addition, many are among the best of ornamental plants, either cultivated in pots or in the open ground. The principal genera that supply flowers suitable as Everlastings are; Acroclinium, Aphelexis, Helichrysum, Rhodanthe, Waitzia, and Xeranthemum, The title is more particularly applied to the many highly-coloured varieties of Helichrysum bracteatum. These are termed Immortelles by the French, and are more largely used by them than in this country. To obtain them in the best condition, they should be gathered on a dry day, when each flower-head is sufficiently open to show the inside of the bracts without exposing the centre. If frequently examined, the whole stock may be secured in this condition. They should be hung, head downwards, in a cool shed, and allowed to remain until dry. The individual flower-heads may be wired, and used, with good effect, among dried ornamental grasses, in winter, either in high glasses or vases. The French use large quantities to form memorial wreaths and crosses. If properly gathered and dried, many of the species will keep good, excepting that some of the colour vanishes, for two or three years. A new stock, is, however best grown and collected each year. A bunch of Helichrysums, showing the proper stage for gathering, is represented in Fig. 743.