We’re all enjoying the glorious blooms of summer—blue and lavender multi-flora hydrangea, orange and yellow zinnias, creamy Magnolia blossoms, rosy cone flowers, and ubiquitous Black-Eyed Susans. Perhaps you even have floribunda or knock-out roses in coral, white, and pink. Soon we’ll all enjoy sedum, in their subtle hues, blue and purple asters, elegant, purple spiked Agastache, and delicate pink and white statice adding to our gardens’ lush color bouquet.
How about preserving these beauties so they can be enjoyed during winter? There are four simple and common methods of preserving blooms. You might try several approaches; see which method gives your flowers the look you’re after for dried arrangements. With a bit of planning and some simple materials, it’s possible to preserve some of those beauties, retaining most or all of their color and grace. Even if the first few attempts disappoint, don’t give up. You’ll soon figure out just the technique that works for you and your garden’s blooms.
The four techniques are: (1) oven drying, using a microwave or traditional oven, (2) air drying, (3) drying using sand or rice, and (4) pressed drying, using heavy books.
Before we get into the techniques for drying flowers, consider how you’ll collect your specimens. Think of the drying of blossoms as an ongoing project. As blooms reach their peak, cut and dry them. You might do a few flowers every week, or even more often when your garden is at its showiest.
1. Microwave or Oven Drying:
You’ll need silica gel crystals (available at craft stores) for the microwave method.
1. Line a microwave-safe container with silica gel crystals to a depth of 1-inch. 2. Carefully remove the flowers from their stems and set each flower into the silica gel crystals so the petals do not touch one-another. 3. Gently pour silica gel crystals over the blooms until they’re covered. 4. At a LOW power setting, microwave the dish of blooms (uncovered) for 2–5 minutes. (Check occasionally to see if the flowers seem dry.) 5. Remove the container from the microwave and cover, leaving a space for moisture to escape. After 24 hours, uncover container and remove gel crystals by gently brushing blooms. (An old makeup brush works well.) 6. Spray dried flowers with crafter’s acrylic or hairspray and attach flowers to wire “stems.” OVEN method: 1. Preheat oven to 200F. 2. Arrange blossoms (foliage removed) on cookie sheet lined with parchment. 3. Bake for 8 hours, uncovered, with the oven door cracked to release moisture. 4. Allow flowers to cool on cookie sheet before handling.
2. Air Drying:
This is a lovely method if you like an antique look—works best for bouquets and nosegays.
1. Gather your flowers—lavender, statice, lilies, roses, and leave at least a 6” stem on each bloom. Strip the stems of leaves. (The leaves won’t dry properly.) 2. Tie stems together in the arrangements you desire. Use twine or rubber bands; ribbons can be added later. 3. For 2–3 weeks, hang the drying clusters upside down in a well-ventilated area, out of reach of children and pets. Avoid areas where direct sunlight might fade the flowers. 4. When thoroughly dry, take down the bouquets, spray with acrylic or hair spray, and decorate with ribbons or arrange in baskets and bowls.
3. Drying in Sand or Rice:
This method is inexpensive and uses non-toxic material. These materials are heavy, so use only with sturdy blooms.
1. Collect your flowers and remove foliage. 2. Gather sturdy boxes with lids—shoe boxes work well, and lots of clean sand or rice. 3. Layer the bottom of the box with a half-inch of sand or rice and arrange blossoms, with or without stems, in the box so the flowers do not touch. 4. Slowly and carefully pour sand or rice over and around each flower, being careful to get in between petals, until the flowers are completely covered. Close the box lid tightly. 5. Leave covered 2–3 weeks before removing sand or rice carefully from around the dried blooms. Brush gently with soft bristles to remove remaining crystals or kernels. (Spraying blooms with preservative is an option.)
4. Pressed Drying:
This traditional method of preserving flowers was popular in the Victorian age. It’s still romantic to find an antique bloom pressed between the pages of a favorite novel or collection of poetry.
1. Gather a few heavy books or a flower press if you have access to one. You’ll also need heavy paper such as watercolor paper or card stock and sheets of parchment. 2. Gather the blooms you want to preserve. They will be flattened, so keep that in mind when selecting the flowers. 3. Open a book and place a piece of heavy paper on the page, then a piece of parchment. 4. Arrange the flowers, face down, on the parchment, then cover the flowers with another piece of parchment and, finally, another absorbent paper. (You’ll have four layers of paper.) 5. Close the book and pile on several more heavy volumes. (Rely on your own judgement as to the weight you’ll need.) 6. After 3–4 weeks, you can remove the weight and see the antique-looking flowers on the page. You may want to leave them in the book, but remove all but one sheet of parchment, to protect the book’s page. If you remove the flowers from the book, you’ll need to decide on some other flat surface to store or display the blooms—perhaps in a shadow-box frame or on a side table under a sheet of glass.
Whatever you choose to do with your summer garden’s beauties—arrangements in vases, wreathes, gift decorations, nosegays, you’ll be reminded of the beauty of your garden throughout the winter months until the garden comes to life again.
