How to Dry Flowers and Keep Memories Alive

When you receive a special bunch of flowers it’s almost heart-breaking when they reach the end!If you want to keep those blooms to bring back special memories, then why not consider drying the flowers to remind you of their special meaning. Here we give you some tips on how to dry flowers and keep your blooms.

There are a number of ways to do this, and here we take a look at all of them.

Air Drying Blooms

For the best results, make sure you cut your flowers before they start wilting and get rid of the leaves. Hang your flowers in a bunch by their stems in a well ventilated area with string or anything else that will keep them together nice and tight.The reason you need to hang them upside down is so that the stems will be nice and straight and you won’t have a drooping look hanging over your vase! If you want to keep those gorgeous colours, and then make sure you take them out of any sunny areas immediately and dry them in the dark. To preserve the colour of the flower, remove them from sunlight immediately after cutting and dry them in the dark. If you only want to keep the flower and not the stems, then just cut them and put them onto a sheet of paper and put them in a dark room. The amount of time it takes for them to dry depends on the surroundings, for example the airflow, temperature and humidity and also the type of flower. It can be anywhere from 24 hours or even up to a week. You’ll know when they’re ready as the blooms will feel like paper and won’t be damp at all. You’ve still got to make sure that once they’ve dried you keep them out of direct sunlight to keep the colours.  Keep them out of dry and damp air too.

Using a Drying Agent

You might need to use a drying agent if the blooms are quite hard or dry. You can use silica get, a borax mixture, white cornmeal, sand or even fresh kitty litter. Take your pick. Silica gel is actually the best way to do it. Place the drying agent in the deep flat dish. If you’ve got flat flowers like daisies, then they can be placed face down, but if you’ve got flowers that have layers of petals like roses, then place them face up and sprinkle the drying agent over them. They should have at least half an inch of stem. Cover the flowers entirely. Store them in a safe place, or you can even place them in the microwave to speed up the drying time.

Microwaving Blooms

Want those dried flowers, but want them in hurry, then a microwave is the best option. However, you probably won’t have that awesome look that you want, as air drying is the best option. If you want to go this route then it will have to be a bit of trial and error. If you want to microwave them then you’ll have to put them in when they’re at their most colourful, otherwise you might land up with a dull brown colour. Position the flower with a half-inch stem facing up in a drying agent and sprinkle more of the agent on top of it, again the drying agent should be a half inch deep. Put a small bowl of water next to the flower in the microwave. You need to make sure that you keep turning the flower every 30 seconds. Drying times are different depending on the flowers. Normally it takes about 3 minutes, but you’ll have to watch them. However a rose could take three and a half minutes or more.  When it’s done take it out of the microwave, but don’t take it out of the drying agent right away. It needs to stand for a couple of hours. Of course the time it takes to dry will depend on the flowers and the conditions.

So why not try your hand at drying your precious bunch of blooms and keep those memories alive.

Order a stunning bunch of blooms from City Flowers India today and get that crafty side of you working!