How to Dry Flowers

Choose one of these simple drying methods to supply dried flowers for your everlasting bouquets.

Air drying

A good method for beginners, air drying is the simplest way to preserve flowers. For best results, cut flowers at midday, when the blooms are fully open. Avoid picking flowers after a heavy rain or when they're covered with dew. Strip the leaves and gather the flowers in small bunches secured with elastic ties. Hang the bunches upside down in a dark, dry, well ventilated attic or room for two or three weeks.

Some excellent garden choices for the air-drying method include cockscomb celosia, larkspur, annual statice, acacia, bells-of-Ireland, blue salvia, Chinese lanterns, globe amaranth, hydrangea (Pee Gee), delphinium, yarrow, Artemisia, heather, honesty (lunaria), and starflower. (Strawflowers should be picked and wired when buds are just starting to open.)

Air drying also works well with many of the field and roadside flowers, such as dock, goldenrod, pampas, grass, pearly everlasting, teasel, and tansy.

Silica gel

Silica gel looks like coarse white sand. Used as a desiccant for plants, it absorbs moisture quickly, leaving a dry flower that has retained its form and bright color.

Many favorite garden flowers, including zinnia, marigold, rose, Shasta, daisy, dahlia, delphinium, snapdragon, feverfew, ranunculus, and peony, are good candidates for silica gel. Remember, however, that the finished product is only as good as the original flower specimen you picked. Dark red flowers aren't suitable for desiccant drying because they turn black.

For the desiccant method, place a base of 1 to 2 inches of silica gel granules in the bottom of a cookie tin or coffee can and insert the short-cut stem in the drying method, the flower face up. Be careful not to overlap any of the petals between flower specimens. Gently sprinkle more of the granules over the flowers until they are covered with silica gel to a depth of about 1 inch.

Cover tightly and tape the name of the flower and date on top of the container. Leave the tin in a dark, dry place for the required drying time (refer to the chart coming up). If in doubt, lift the lid and check. The petals should feel brittle and papery; if they don't, replace the cover and let the flowers dry longer.

Drying Times For Flowers And Foliage

Use this chart as a guide when you dry plants.

Air drying

2 to 3 weeks.

Silica gel

2 to 3 days -- forget-me-not, viola, coral-bells, miniature rose, lantana
3 to 4 days -- pansy, small zinnia, dwarf dahlia, feverfew, tea rose, larkspur, dwarf marigold
4 to 5 days -- peony, large zinnia, Shasta daisy, delphinium, hydrangea, ranunculus
5 to 6 days -- large dahlia, marigold, snapdragon, aster, calendula, lilac

Borax

Double the drying times for silica gel.

Pressed

3 to 4 weeks.

Glycerine

1 to 2 weeks.

When the flowers are ready to be removed, slowly pour off the silica gel and cup your hand under the flower head. Shake off the drying compound gently and, if necessary, remove stubborn granules with a soft artist's brush. Store the flowers in airtight boxes until you need them for arranging. For neat storage, insert the erect stem end in blocks of dry floral foam. To keep dried material in top condition, especially over prolonged periods or when excessive humidity may be a problem, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of silica gel to the storage container. If a petal should fall off, use a toothpick to dab a small amount of white glue on the base of the petal and, with tweezers, join it to the flower center.

Though delphinium and larkspur may be air dried, silica gel perfectly preserves their form and color. Delphinium, larkspur, rosebuds, snapdragon, and lilac should be dried in a horizontal position. Keep in mind that the dried flower buds and leaves of these same flowering plants also will enhance your winter arrangements.

Silica gel, available at crafts shops, can be reused indefinitely, but it must be heated in the oven at 250 degrees for one hour to restore the blue crystals to full potency.

Borax

Ordinary household borax may be used as a drying medium for flowers. Follow the same directions as the silica gel method, with two exceptions: place the flower facedown in the container and leave the lid off while drying. Though it's less expensive than silica gel, borax takes twice as long to act as a desiccant and doesn't preserve color as well.

Pressed

The avid pressed-flower enthusiast can buy a flower press, complete with blotting paper, at a crafts shop. For the average pressed-flower lover, however, a thick telephone book will suffice. One trick is to spread facial tissue on newspaper at 1-inch intervals in the book. (By using tissue the newspaper print will not be picked up by the flowers while they're being pressed.) Place the flowers flat: avoid creasing the petals, and avoid overlapping specimens. If possible, use same-thickness materials on each page for even drying. Cover the flowers with tissue, then newspaper.

Repeat the layering process until the book is filled. Remember to include flower buds, and curve some stems and leaves for graceful positioning when dried. Put a weight on the book and store for three to four weeks away from sunlight in a dark, dry place.

Some garden favorites for pressing include buttercup, daisy, verbena, dusty miller, hydrangea, lobelia, delphinium, sweet alyssum, pansy, viola, and almost all types of ferns.

When you're ready to create pressed-flower pictures, use eyebrow tweezers and a tiny dot of white glue to anchor the flowers to the background material. Let the finished design dry overnight before inserting the glass and making the back airtight with tape over all edges.

Glycerine

The dried foliage of many plants will make a beautiful foil for flowers in everlasting bouquets. Leaves from peony, oak , and beech may be pressed or dried in silica gel, but they will be more supple and useful if they're treated with glycerine, a plant preservative.

Glycerinated material may be used in arrangements of fresh flowers, too, because water causes no damage to treated stems or foliage.

For best results, mix a solution of 1 part glycerine to 2 parts hot water in a jar and shake well. After scraping or pounding the cut young branch ends, place them in 2 to 3 inches of the solution. Let them stand for one to two weeks, or until the leaves have finished absorbing the mixture and feel pliable.

Usually they change to dark green or a soft shade of brown and rust, depending upon the foliage you're treating.

Other good foliage candidates for glycerine drying include eucalyptus, holly, laurel, aspidistra, pyracantha, sycamore, yew, and crab apple. Foliage to be treated should be gathered before mid-August, while it's still intact and tender. Store the glycerine solution in a tightly covered jar for future use!

Source

Art of Floral Arranging by Eileen Johnson

Flowers by Paula Pryke and Kevin Summers