The key to drying flowers is to remember that you need to remove the moisture from the flower or other plant material as quickly as possible. The simplest form of flower preservation is air drying as it requires no special materials or expertise. It is excellent for beginners. Moisture is removed from the petals by the circulation of air using no preservative. Flowers will dry if there is no residual moisture from rain or dew. Choose perfect specimens only and remove any large leaves as they become shriveled and unattractive when dried. Smaller leaves can be removed by rubbing them off after drying if you wish.
Gather the stems into small bunches but not too large or they will rot. Fasten each bunch with elastic bands, which will contract as the stems dry and shrink. Hang the hunches heads down in a dry, dark, airy place. Some plants are best dried upright, so their pendulous nature is preserved. Simply prepare them as normal and place in a completely dry container. Other ways of drying flowers are preserving foliage in glycerine and using desiccants, both of which are covered alongside.
Do not allow dried flowers to become damp and be particularly aware of condensation in bathrooms and on window ledges. A rewarding aspect of dried flower arranging is drying and preserving the plant material yourself, such as bunches of lavender
PRESERVING FOLIAGE IN GLYCERINE
- Choose a container large enough to take the foliage and add the glycerine.
- Top up with two parts hot water to 1 part glycerine to a depth of no more than 8 cm/3 in. Mix well.
- For wood-stemmed foliage, cut and split the stem ends, then place in the glycerine mixture immediately. For calyces, seed heads, herbaceous foliage and soft stemmed leaves, allow the mixture to cool first then stand the container in a warm, dry, dark place.
- Check the container every day and top up with fresh glycerine mixture if necessary. You will notice the foliage changing color as the glycerine is gradually absorbed. Wipe the stems dry after removing from the mixture.
- If the leaves have absorbed too much glycerine they will look oily and be prone to mildew. If this occurs, immerse the foliage in warm water with a drop of washing up liquid, rinse, shake off excess water and stand in a warm place to dry.
More dried materials are available to buy than ever before, but many plants can be dried successfully at home. Make up arrangements using a combination of home dried plants and other more exotic bought ones, such as the large Banksia coccinea used in this lovely dried arrangement.
DRYING WITH DESICCANT
- Spoon a layer of silica gel or borax into a container to a depth of 1 cm/1/2 in. For silica gel, use a clean airtight container. Preserve one layer of flowers per container to avoid damaging them.
- Continue sprinkling the material so the crystals gradually cover the flower. Continue until there is a 1 cm/1/2. in layer on top of the flowers.
- If using silica gel, cover the container with a lid or with kitchen foil sealed with tape to make it airtight. Label with the plant name and date. If using borax, do not seal the container, but leave in a warm place with a constant temperature, such as an airing cupboard. As a rough guide, miniature flowers may take 3-4 days to dry, roses 7-10 days and fleshy flowers, such as orchids, 2-3 weeks. To test the flowers, gently scrape back the desiccant and remove a single flower. If it looks dry, flick it gently with your finger. If it makes a crisp, papery sound it is dry. Pour off the desiccant, catching each flower as you do.
FLOWERS THAT DRY EASILY
- Artichoke and cardoon (Cynara), Bells of Ireland (Mollucelia)
- Cape honey flower (I’rotea), Chinese Lanterns or Winter Cherry (Physalis)
- Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), Eucalyptus
- Flowers from the onion family (Alhum) Globe, thistle (Echinops)
- Helichrysum
- Hydrangea
- Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos), Love-in-a-mist (Nigella), Statice (Phsylliostachys),Yarrow (Achillea)