Whether you have a bouquet from a special event like your wedding, graduation, anniversary, or you have a floral arrangement that you find especially beautiful, you don’t have to let go of the memories or the charm. You can dry your flowers to hold onto and enjoy your memories and the beauty of a special floral arrangement for years to come. There are several ways to save flowers, but at WildFlower, our Arnold florists prefer the traditional method of flower preservation.
Dried Pink Roses
How to Dry Flowers Using the Traditional Method
The most traditional method for drying flowers also tends to yield the best results, producing vibrant, life-like flowers that have been dried completely. To begin, you’ll need string and something to hang your flowers from such as a twig, ceiling hook, or clothing hanger.
First, trim all the leafy foliage from your flowers, leaving just the stems and blooms. Then arrange your flowers, as you like, and tie the stems tightly together with string. Leave a long tail at the end of the string that you can attach to your hook or hanger. The flowers will be hanging upside down, which allows them to dry in the most life-like positions.
Dried Flowers Hanging Upside Down
When hanging flowers to dry, it’s essential that they’re in a dry location where excess humidity won’t interfere with the process. They should also be in a place where they won’t be blasted with direct sunlight, as the sun’s powerful radiation will break down the pigments in your flowers, causing them to fade.
Rustic Roses
Before taking your flowers down and untying them, be sure they have had enough time to dry completely. For most blooms, especially those that are thicker or denser like roses, this process requires several days. You’ll know your flowers are completely dry when they begin to feel a little like tissue paper.
Additional Flower Drying Methods
In addition to hanging flowers to dry, there are other ways that apply gentle heat in order to speed up the process of drying flowers. This includes microwaving flowers, baking them in the oven, and even leaving them in the trunk of a car on a hot day! If you have the time, however, we always recommend hanging flowers because the traditional method produces the best-looking preserved bouquets since the flowers are not pressed against any flat surfaces during the process.
Pressing Flowers
How to Preserve Your Dried Flowers
Dried flowers are incredibly delicate structures, so they need to be handled with care. We recommend spritzing yours with a few coats of gently applied hairspray. This will fortify the blooms and also help to protect them from sunlight and moisture in the air. Be sure to spray the hairspray from a great enough distance that the force of the spray doesn’t damage the flowers.
Bouquet of Dried Flowers in Glass Vase
It’s also smart to display your flowers in a location, where they will be safe. Put them high enough that they won’t fall victim to foot traffic in your house. Keep them out of direct sunlight and away from the high humidity of bathroom showers.
For more information about preserving and drying flowers or for recommendations about the most beautiful bouquets to dry, we welcome you to stop by WildFlower to speak with our florists.
