If you have a beautiful flower arrangement that you wish could last forever or flowers from a special occasion that could help you enjoy the memories forever, then our flower experts at Julia’s Florist in Wilmington have the perfect solution for you — flower drying! By simply drying your stunning flowers, you can preserve and enjoy them for years and years to come.
Dried Peach Roses
How to Dry Flowers
The classic way of drying flowers, air drying, is actually the best way because it produces the most life-like and vibrant results of any method. To air dry your flowers, first remove the leaves from the flower stems. Then gather your flowers in a bunch and bind their stems together with string. Leave a long tail at the end of the string and use it to hang the flowers, upside down, from a stick, clothing hanger, or ceiling beam. Leave the flowers for several days, until completely dry.
If you don’t want to wait several days for your flowers to dry, you can add gentle heat to speed up the process. The fastest way to dry flowers is in the microwave. You’ll need a microwave-safe container and silica sand. Trim the flowers and their stems first. Then arrange them in the container and make sure they’re completely covered/surrounded by silica sand. Put them in the microwave with a cup of water and heat on 30-second intervals. Drying times vary based on the size and type of flowers, but most will be ready in two or three minutes.
Hanging Dried Flowers
If you don’t have silica sand available, you can also dry flowers in the oven. Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and preheat your oven to its lowest heat setting. Arrange flowers on the baking sheet with no overlap because flowers will stick together, if they’re touching. Leave the oven door cracked to allow moisture to escape while the flowers dry. You’ll need to keep an eye on them for eight to twelve hours until they’ve dried completely.
Whichever method you choose to use, it’s essential that you allow flowers enough time to dry completely. Any remaining moisture will cause your flowers to rot. When flowers are totally dry, they’ll become quite delicate and feel similar to tissue paper.
Dried Pink Roses
The Best Flowers for Drying
Drying works well for just about all types of flowers, but we especially recommend it for bouquets of flowers, like our “Fit for a Queen Bouquet” that contains large, dense blooms like mixed roses, orchids, and hydrangea.
Fit for a Queen
While these flowers dry exceptionally well, they’re more difficult to press and usually need to be sliced in half for a successful pressing. We recommend drying these types of flowers and then displaying them as a bouquet, using them to decorate a floral wreath, or displaying them in a shadow box with other keepsake items.
In addition to these types of blooms, other flowers that dry well include statice, purple stock, lavender, globe thistle, cockscomb, and lovely gomphrena of all colors. For more flower drying tips and recommendations, we welcome you to stop by Julia’s Florist.
