Dried lavender vs eucalyptus: Which one actually keeps its color longer?

I had a weird week last October where I made two identical wreaths, one with dried lavender from my aunt's garden in Vermont and one with eucalyptus I bought at a craft store. The lavender one stayed that nice purple for about 3 months but then went totally gray. The eucalyptus held its green color for almost 6 months before fading. Now I'm debating if the lavender's scent is worth replacing it twice as often or if I should just go with eucalyptus and call it good. But then I hear people say baby's breath lasts forever, so maybe that's the real winner? Has anyone else done a side by side test like this with their arrangements?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonbell1mo ago

Did you notice any difference in scent fading between the two over time?

abby_king221mo ago

Honestly, I’ve got a friend who did something similar and she was shocked at the difference. She dried some lavender from a farmers market and also had some dried eucalyptus from her sister’s baby shower. @ryanprice your friend Rachel’s story about the boxwood is spot on, because my friend said the eucalyptus stayed green and smelled okay for way longer than the lavender which went totally flat after like a month. The lavender got this dusty, almost hay-like scent that barely lingered unless you crushed it up. She ended up tossing the lavender but kept the eucalyptus hanging in her bathroom for almost a year before it faded to nothing.

ryanprice1mo agoTop Commenter

My friend Rachel did this exact test a couple years ago with dried hydrangeas against some preserved boxwood stems she got from a garage sale of all places. The hydrangeas looked great for about two months then turned this weird brownish color that looked like dead leaves. The boxwood stayed green for almost a year but it faded to a pale sage green that I actually thought looked better than the original dark color. She said the eucalyptus from her wedding bouquet lasted longer than the lavender by a long shot but she kept the lavender because the smell reminded her of her grandmother. Baby's breath does last forever though, my mom has some from her 30th anniversary that still looks white and she's about to turn 70.