Dried flowers might seem like a relic of the past, evoking images of dusty, forgotten rose bouquets, but they’re anything but old-fashioned. In fact, they carry a timeless reminder that every living thing leaves behind a trace, even after it’s gone. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, dried flower arrangements were all the rage, and today, they’ve made a remarkable comeback from their once faded reputation.
Flowers like hydrangeas, ranunculus, roses, peonies, along with oats, wheat, thistles, and lavender, can be beautifully preserved through drying, allowing their charm to linger long after the blooming season has passed. It’s a simple yet effective way to hold onto the splendor of spring and summer nearly forever.
Whether you’re crafting a classic arrangement with dried flowers, twigs, and grasses in floral foam or clay, or going for a more free-spirited look with a boho-inspired wreath of delicate blooms, the possibilities are endless. The best part? You don’t need anything fancy to get started. With just a few basic supplies, you can easily press and dry flowers at home.
We’ll take a closer look at various methods for drying flowers, including air drying, flat drying to maintain their shape, and quicker techniques like using a microwave or iron. You’ll discover how to properly dry flowers to preserve their vibrant colors and delicate forms.
1) Air Drying Flowers in a Vase of Water
Some flowers, like hydrangeas, dry better in a vase of water rather than being hung upside down.
Here’s how to do it: Pour 4-5 cm of a glycerin and water mix (1:1 ratio) into a vase. Cut the stems at an angle and place them in the solution. As the water evaporates, the flowers will dry out naturally.
When the buds start to fade, remove the flowers, trim the ends that were in the water to prevent mold, and lay them flat on cardboard or paper to finish drying.
The glycerin left behind helps preserve the flowers, keeping them either looking fresh longer or making them less brittle than if they’d been dried upside down. Just keep an eye on the solution and add more if needed.
This technique works great for plants like Globe artichoke, Heather, Carnation (after they’ve fully opened), Gypsophila, Hydrangea, Lavender, bulbs, Yarrow, Chicory, and more.
2: Flowers Hung Using the “Head Down” Method
Air drying flowers by hanging them upside down is the easiest and most energy-efficient way to preserve them. You’ll need a dark, dry room with good ventilation—think attic or garage. The drying time varies depending on the type and size of the plant.
Preparing the Flowers
- Cutting: Harvest the flowers just as they begin to bloom. If you only need the blooms, remove 2-3 leaves or all of them.
- Bundling: Create small bunches of 5-10 stems, tying them together at the base. Use an elastic band or string to tie every 2-3 stems within the bunch and then tie the whole bunch together. This prevents the bouquet from falling apart once it’s dry. Don’t tie them too tightly; you want to avoid trapping moisture.
Hanging and Drying
- Hanging: Hang the bouquets upside down from a rope, string, or fishing line, at least 15 cm from the ceiling. Space the hooks 10-15 cm apart using paper clips or clothespins. Ensure each bunch is well-ventilated, with no stems touching each other.
- Drying Time: Allow the flowers to dry for 15-30 days. If the petals are thick or if conditions aren’t ideal, it could take up to 35-40 days. The flowers are ready when the petals feel hard and brittle.
Drying Grasses
Grasses and cereals should be harvested just before flowering or when the ears turn a light straw color. After harvesting, trim the stems to the same length and stagger the tips of the spikelets at different heights. Dry them using the same upside-down method as flowers.
Florist Tips
- Separate Tying: It’s best to tie different types of flowers separately to ensure even drying.
- Surprising Beauty: Flowers like buttercups, bee balm, yarrow, amaranth, chamomile, and mint flowers look surprisingly beautiful when dried, even though they might appear different from when fresh.
- Large Flowers: Large blooms like Hydrangeas, Peonies, Roses (unpinned), and Lilacs dry best when hung individually rather than in bunches.
3: Pressing flowers in the Book
One of the simplest and most charming ways to preserve flowers is by pressing them in a book. Beyond the nostalgic joy of finding petals tucked between pages, pressing flowers is perfect for preserving delicate or rare blooms like poppies, pansies, anemones, cosmos, ferns, and more. If you’ve got a few hefty books lying around, you can use them to press flowers and keep them looking lovely for a long time.
Pressing flowers in a book is easy, affordable, and one of the most well-known drying methods. It’s a favorite among botanists creating herbariums, jewelry makers, and anyone who loves dried flowers.
How to Press Flowers in a Book
- Materials: Besides a book, you’ll need standard printing paper or paper towel. This keeps the flowers from touching the book’s ink and makes it easier to remove them later. Use A5 paper or cut an A4 sheet in half and fold it to create a simple “envelope.”
- Preparation: Carefully trim the flower and leaves as needed. Write down the flower’s name, date, and any notes or where you found it on a small “bookmark.”
- Pressing: Place the flower inside your paper “envelope,” spreading out the petals and leaves. Lightly press them with your fingers to set their position. Close the envelope and place it in the book.
- Weight: Add a small weight on top, like a stack of books or a packet of cereal or salt, to ensure good pressure.
Tips
- Drying Time: Flowers typically take 30 to 60 days to fully dry and become flat.
- Best Practices: Use an old book with yellowed pages for better moisture absorption, but still place your flowers in a white “envelope.” This helps prevent the book from getting damp. Leave at least 5-10 pages between each flower to allow better airflow and moisture absorption.
- Preparation: Prepare your paper envelopes in advance and leave them in the book, so they’re ready when you collect your flowers. As soon as you find a flower, trim it and place it in the book immediately.
- Spacing: Depending on the size of the plant, place your flowers every 5 or 10 pages (e.g., 5, 10, 15, or 10, 20, 30).
- Drying: Only dry flowers that are collected at the same time. Don’t mix fresh specimens with almost dried ones, as this can cause mold to develop on the entire collection.
4: Drying Flowers Under a Press
Drying plants under a press is a great way to preserve them for making art, like panels and paintings, or for botanical collections like herbariums. If you don’t have a special flower press, you can easily make one yourself using some simple materials, or even just press them under a piece of glass.
How to Do It
- Materials: You’ll need some cardboard or plywood, absorbent paper (like newspaper, office paper, or tissue paper), and something heavy to use as a weight, like a stack of books or a bag of sand. If you’re feeling crafty, you can even make a press that lets you dry multiple layers of flowers at once.
- Layering: Start by placing your flowers in a single layer on a board covered with absorbent paper. Then, place another sheet of paper on top of the flowers. Next, add a layer of cardboard or plywood, and finally, put your weight on top to press everything down evenly. The setup is simple: cardboard-paper-flower-paper-cardboard.
- Speeding It Up: To help your flowers dry faster, check on them every few days and swap out the damp paper for fresh sheets. Depending on the flowers, it usually takes anywhere from 5-7 days to a couple of weeks to dry them fully.
- Finishing Touches: Once you take the flowers out of the press, especially if they’re blue or delicate, lay them out for a couple more days on a tray with a thin layer of fine sand or wheat semolina. Sprinkle a little bit of sand on top. This extra step helps soak up any leftover moisture and keeps the flowers flat as they finish drying.
Which flowers to dry under the press?
Plants with a relatively flat shape and small flat flowers are best dried in a book and under the press. These include most meadow plants and wild flowers, as well as medicinal herbs. Pansies, Clematis, all forms of bells, Mallows (stock roses), Ferns, Primroses, Lilacs, Violets and most aromatic herbs.
5: Drying Flowers in a Microwave Oven
Drying flowers in a microwave is a super quick way to preserve their beauty, especially if you’re in a hurry. It works well for flowers with lots of smooth petals and can give you great results in just a few minutes.
How to Dry Flowers in a Microwave
- Preparation: Take a half-open flower with about a 3-4 cm stem. Place it in the microwave, and to help prevent color burnout and overdrying, put a cup of water in the microwave with the flower.
- Microwaving: Set the microwave to medium power and run it for two minutes. Afterward, check the flower with a toothpick to see if it’s dry. If it needs more time, microwave it for another minute and check again. Repeat until you reach the desired dryness.
- Final Drying: If the flowers aren’t completely dry after microwaving, take them out and hang them in a dry, well-ventilated spot for 2-3 days, keeping them out of direct sunlight.
Which flowers for microwave drying?
This is a great technique for drying flowers with lots of smooth petals: Pansies, Carnations, Dahlia, Baby’s Breath, Goldenrod, Calendula (Marigold), Lavender, Cuff, Daisy, Peony, Rose, Chamomile, Zinnia and others. Be careful, flowers with thick petals are not recommended for drying in the microwave.
Florist Tips
- Use a Desiccant: For the best results, dry flowers in the microwave using a container with a desiccant like silica gel or flour. After microwaving, let the container cool for 12-36 hours before opening.
- Timing: The more petals a flower has and the denser they are, the longer it will take to dry—typically around 7-8 minutes at medium or high power.
- Delicate Flowers: For more fragile flowers like daisies or chamomiles, it’s better to use the defrost mode for a gentler drying process.
- Drawbacks: One downside to microwave drying is the risk of overdrying, which can make the flowers too brittle and less attractive. It’s all about finding the right balance.
6: Drying and Preserving Flowers with Dry Salt or Silica Gel
You might be surprised, but washing powder, dry salt, or silica gel can work wonders when it comes to drying and preserving flowers. Here’s how you can do it:
Preparing the Flowers
- Harvesting: Cut the flowers in dry weather to ensure there’s no moisture on the petals. Trim the flower head, leaving a 2-3 cm piece of stem. Insert a wire into the stem, and wrap any excess wire underneath the flower to help keep its shape during drying.
Drying Process
- Setting Up: In a deep container like a bowl, cup, box, or jar, pour a loose 3-4 cm layer of silica gel or dry salt. The larger the flower, the thicker the base layer should be.
- Positioning the Flowers: Place the flowers upside down on the base layer. Carefully pour the dry salt or silica gel over the petals, making sure to separate them and allow the desiccant to reach deep into the flower. Cover the flowers completely.
- Sealing and Storing: If using a jar, close it tightly and place it in a dry, warm spot. If your container is open, make sure it’s in a well-ventilated area.
- Checking the Flowers: After 3-4 days, use a toothpick to check if the flowers are dry. For small flowers, drying with silica gel typically takes 2-4 days; for larger blooms, it can take 6-7 days.
- Using Cat Litter: You can also try using fine silica gel found in cat litter. If the granules are too large, you can grind them down to create a finer powder, which works better for delicate flowers.
Finishing Up
- Removing the Flowers: Once the petals are firm but not brittle, gently remove the flowers with tweezers. They should feel like paper—sturdy yet flexible. Use a soft brush to gently shake off any remaining desiccant, or blow it off with a rubber bulb.
- Reactivating Silica Gel: After drying the flowers, the silica gel may turn pink, indicating it has absorbed moisture. To reuse it, spread the silica gel on a baking sheet and bake it in the oven at 90-100°C (194-212°F) for 2-3 hours to dry it out and restore its effectiveness.
Tips
- Alternative Desiccants: While silica gel is very effective, you can also use washing powder or dry salt for this method.
- Storage: Keep the dried flowers in a cool, dry place to preserve them for as long as possible.
This method is great for preserving the color and shape of flowers, making them perfect for long-lasting decorations or craft projects.
7: Drying Flowers With an Iron
Drying flowers or leaves with an iron is a quick and effective way to preserve them, especially when you’re in a hurry. This method works particularly well for leaves, making them flat and crisp.
- Preparation: Start by placing the leaves you want to dry between two sheets of paper. Regular office paper works well, but you can also use blotting paper for better moisture absorption.
- Ironing: Set your iron to a low or medium heat setting without steam. Gently press the iron over the paper-covered leaves. Hold it in place for a few seconds, then lift and move to another area to avoid burning the leaves.
- Replacing Paper: After each round of ironing, replace the paper with a new, dry sheet. This step is important because it prevents the leaves from sticking and ensures that all the moisture is absorbed.
- Repeat: Continue ironing and replacing the paper until the leaves are completely dry. The process usually takes a few minutes, depending on the type of leaves and their moisture content.
Ideal Leaves for Iron Drying
This technique is especially effective for drying:
- Iris leaves
- Crocosmia leaves
8: Waxing Cut Flowers with Paraffin
Waxing flowers is a wonderful way to preserve a special bouquet, like one given by a loved one, and it’s surprisingly easy to do at home. Most types of flowers can be treated with paraffin to help them maintain their beauty and extend their life.
How to Wax Flowers
- Melt the Paraffin: Start by melting paraffin wax in a double boiler or a heat-safe container over low heat. Use a neutral-colored paraffin so that it doesn’t alter the flower’s natural color.
- Prepare Your Workspace: Set up your flowers on a clean surface, and have a soft brush ready. Make sure you work in a well-ventilated area since melted wax can release fumes.
- Waxing the Petals: Dip your brush into the melted paraffin, making sure it’s well-coated but not dripping. Gently apply the wax to the petals, starting at the tip and moving towards the center of the bud. Work carefully to ensure even coverage, and take your time with each petal.
- Drying: Allow the wax to dry completely on each petal before moving on to the next one. This ensures that the wax sets properly and gives the flower a smooth, even coating.
- Final Touches: Once all the petals are waxed and dry, you can display your preserved flowers as they are, or use them in other crafts and arrangements.
Best Plants for Glycerin Preservation
Roses, daisies, carnations, chrysanthemums, orchids, lilies, tulips, sunflowers, peonies, and zinnias are all excellent flowers for waxing.
