Hedge Apples also known as Osage Oranges grow wild in the Midwest. It was also one of the first trees discovered by Lewis and Clark on their expeditions. It has many uses. It is the next best source to coal for burning after it is dried. If you put it in your fireplace or burn it green it makes lovely colored flames. It has a distinctive orange aroma. I especially like it for it’s ability to repel spiders. It has been tested in repelling German cockroaches too. They are still testing it’s many properties.
I have access to as many Osage Oranges as I want. My father has them growing in his backyard. I love them too because they make beautiful decorations in arrangements. If you have read K. Ray’s articles on Fall Decorating you will see that these would be well incorporated in your decorating.
If you are a potter you can get a beautiful orange sunburst effect if you use the ashes of the Osage Orange in firing a piece of pottery. It was predominately used by farmers to grow hedges, hence the other name it is frequently called by, “Hedge Apple”. They can grow very tall and wide and keep animals in the area that they surround.
Osage Oranges were even eaten in the war when there was a food shortage. I don’t know if they would be that healthy or tasty. I have no idea what kind of nutritional value they have. They can irritate your skin if you get the milky substance that they have in them on your skin.
Back to the original reason for this article. You can use a serrated knife to slice these Hedge Apples (Osage Oranges) and form the slices over a small aluminum foil ball. Leave them in your oven unheated. The pilot light is just enough heat to dry them out. Leave them in the oven on a baking sheet for 5 days and they will dry out and be ready to use in your craft projects. They make lovely flowers. They look very realistic and last indefinitely. You can glue them to arrangements, swags, or use floral wire and make them into standing flowers. If you wrap the floral wire with floral tape it will make them even prettier. You can put the arrangement in a Styrofoam form and add dried flowers or other florals to make it look more professional.
They look lovely on gift boxes and in shadow boxes. You can use them as drapery tiebacks just by hot gluing them onto a drapery tie. The creative ideas are limitless. You can also use other dried fruit, such as apples and oranges along with the dried Osage Orange flowers for centerpieces for fall Holidays.
But I have to say one of my favorite reasons for using them is they will also help repel them nasty spiders!
Reference:
- Hedge Apples, Osage Orange, crafts, fall, trees, Hedgeapple.com
