Drying flowers

If you have received a special gift of flowers for Valentine’s Day or you wish to have your wedding bouquet preserved as a memorable keepsake you have many options available to choose from. There are very simple techniques for preserving flowers, such as hanging, to more sophisticated techniques such as Freeze-drying. Each has their own pros and cons and a certain cost associated to it.

Be warned that not all drying techniques will work for all flowers. Also, the maturity of each flower’s bloom will play a role in the assessment of whether or not the flowers will be well preserved. For instance, a flower that has fully bloomed will not always preserve well in a drying technique as the petals will become to fragile.

Remember, the better shape, as in more fresh your flowers are when you begin the preservation technique the better they will turn out.

Air Drying Flowers

This is an old and very simple process involving a dry, dark and preferable warm location. The darkness helps maintain the color better. The more air circulation, the better.

It is best to not use flowers in full bloom for this drying method as some of the pedals will potentially dry out and fall off.

Air Drying Steps

Remove the excess or unwanted foliage and cut the stems to there desired length but not shorter than six inches. If you plan to dry them out as a bouquet, fasten the bunch of flowers together, either in your already tied bouquet, or using a rubber band, string or ribbons etc. In order to help your flowers maintain their color during the drying process, once they are cut it is important that you remove them from sunlight.
You need to find a dark, dry place that has good circulation. With fine thread, tie the bottom end of the flower’s stems to a hanger. Be sure to hang the flowers upside down to dry. Leave your flowers to dry for about two to three weeks and make sure not to touch them until they are completely dry.
Once the flowers are completely dried, remove them from the hangers and spray them with hairspray. This will help to give them some extra protection. The flowers are now ready to do with as you please. Avoid direct sunlight on the flowers as well as extreme heat, so it is best to try to find a place for them in more shaded areas.

Flowers that are preserved well by this method are baby’s breath, cattail, celosia, dock, goldenrod, heather and pussy willow. Flowers dried in this manner are extremely stiff once dried. Blue and yellow flowers retain their colors when air-dried, but pink flowers fade. Be aware that roses and peonies can shrink a little when air-dried.

Silica gel

Drying flowers with the use of silica gel is a quick drying method. It is improperly called a gel, as it is sand-like silicon material. This preserves flowers by immersing the flowers in the silica gel. The unique properties of the silica allow it to absorb about 40 percent of its weight with water. The container that you are drying the flowers in needs to be very well sealed for maximum effect, as it can absorb moisture from the air, making it less effective.

This process will take about a week. It can be quite expensive compared to other drying methods. But the silica gel can be reused once it is dried out again, which you can do by putting it in the oven. Flowers preserved in this manner keep their color well.

The process works well for flowers such as aster, carnation, chrysanthemum, dahlia, delphinium, geranium, lark-spur, marigold, rose and zinnia.

Freeze drying flowers

Flowers are sprayed with a starch and then essentially baked in a freeze dryer. This process will maintain a very realistic look of the flowers shapes and colors.

This method works well for preserving bridal bouquets as well as other bouquets.

Pressing

Another potential option to preserve flowers is to have press them. This will flatten out the flowers, which will allow them to be framed and hung. The best way to do this is with a proper flower press. A much cheaper, in fact free option, is to press you own flowers using a book or other flat slightly heavy object to press down the flower.

Pressing steps

Pick your flowers in the morning after the dew has dried. Depending on what you are looking to create, collect flowers in various stages of bloom, and decide whether you would like to include leaves and buds of the plant.
Pressing the flowers as soon as possible after harvesting is advised to prevent them from wilting. Place the plants between the two absorbent, smooth sheets in the flower press if you have one. If you use a book for pressing, place two sheets of absorbent paper between the pages to protect the book from discoloration or water damage.
Depending on the type of flower, it can take different times for them to dry, but typically they will be done in about two to three weeks. It is better to leave them in the press for too long than not long enough. The flowers can get damaged if they are removed before the drying process is complete. Sometimes it helps to label the drying book or make a note of the due date and the types of flowers you pressed.

Flowers that are relatively easy for the novice presser to work with are Artemisia, clematis, coral bells, delphiniums, feverfew, forget me not, freesia, fuchsia, hydrangea, larkspur, lobelia, pansies, Queen Anne's lace, sweet alyssum, violets and wild roses. Roses and lilies can be pressed but require more advanced techniques.

Flower Pressing Hobby

Pressing flower is a common hobby for many folks. The pressed flowers can be used for all sorts of decorative things such as hand made gift cars, wedding invitations, cake decorations, placed between glass plates for accent pictures, added to candles and you can probably come up with hundreds more creative ideas for pressed flowers.

Pressing flowers with children

Pressing flowers can be a fun activity to do with children. With some adult supervision they will be able to produce their own pressed flowers and have fun while doing it.