Dried flowers gave to Decoration what photography gave to art.
The beauty of a dried flower or bouquet can be maintained for ever.
Wherever you put your dried flowers they change the atmosphere and the mood as they create a natural decoration.
You can see them in arrangements with pot pouri, in wooden/ paper surfaces using decoupage technique, in vases, frames etc.
Easy And Fast Ways To Dry Your Flowers :
It is the faster and easier way compared to the others to dry many flowers together.
1) We take the flowers we want to dry and having them aligned we turn them upside down.
2) We can remove some leaves in order to avoid further hydration.
3)We tie them up with rope or rubber and in different heights so that their buds will not touch each other. We spray them with lac and hang them upside down in a dark
(To maintain their color) and warm place for 2-4 weeks. If you want you can put them in a paper bag after opening some holes in order to keep the dust away. They will be ready when you bend the stem and it will break.
The best flowers for this method are roses, carnations and the branches of boukamvillia
It is the ideal way if you want to dry petals or small amount of flowers.
1. Take a big book ( for example a telephone cataloque)
2. Place the flowers inside using an absorbent paper,
3. Close it and wrap it with newspaper.
Place it in a dry place and leave it for a week.
The paper will absorb all the moisture from the flowers.
4.Then remove the paper and place the newspaper with the flowers in the middle of a book and close it.
Put more books on top to increase pressure.
If you want to dry many flowers at the same time place them in different pages of the book followin the previous steps.
They will be ready in 2-3 weeks dependin on the size and the kind of the flower.
Tips
- Ideal flowers are pansedes and violets.
- Ideal for creating frames with natural materials
With this method we gain time, compared to conventional methods that last for weeks, taking only a few minutes.
1. Cut a variety of flowers, which will be dry and clean of insects.
2. Put sand down-to-bottom (eg the one we use for pets) in a microwave oven bowl, place the flower and cover it completely,
covering it with the sand.
3. We take 1 flower at a time.
4. Leave it for 2 to 3 minutes at a high temperature.
5. Then take it and repeat it with the rest..
Another way is to place the flower between double paper towels for 1 minute or until they get the look we want at the lowest temperature.
Tips for drying flowers in a microwave oven
- Ideal flowers are daisies, gerberas, chrysanthemums, dahlias.
- Time varies from flower to flower or oven to oven so it is good to experiment with the first.
Especially in the second technique in many cases a few seconds are enough!
The most appropriate method for removing moisture is to keep the colors and shape of the flowers lively.
1. We take the flowers and cut them by leaving at least 3 cm of their stem.
(Be careful before you put them to be dry enough and be insect-free)
2. Pour the silicagel into the bowl with the flowers gently to not wrinkle the petals and cover them whole.
Depending on the shape of the flower we can put flowers upside down or normally enough that the silica gel penetrates everywhere
(eg the rose will always put it with the stalk down while the daisy can get in and upside down)
3. We seal the vessel completely. After 2-6 dayw we check thwe result and then remove and dust.
Tips for drying with silica gel
-The silicon is re-used many times and we buy it from specialized gardening shops or hobby stores.
It exists in two forms. In crystals and in powder. We recommend drying with the powder as it penetrates deeper into foliage flowers and drips more evenly.
-If you do not find dust, you can get crystals and dust them in the mixer (WARNING - washing the mixer should be done thoroughly).
- Also be careful not to inhale the dust
-Select the gel that changes color when it reaches the moisture absorption limit
- Suitable flowers for drying with silica gel: roses, daisies, peony, carnations, sewing, envy, etc.
-You can combine this technique with the oven drying technique (microwave or normal) for a really fast result
If you can not wait for weeks then this method is for you!
1. Spread the petals or even the entire flowers on a grill.
2. Bake at 150 - 200C for 1.5 - 2 hours.
Every half an hour we check the flowers so we do not burn them
3. Once the petals have a slight bend, then they are ready.
4. Leave them outside the oven all night - for at least 10 hours - to make sure we avoid mold.
Tips for drying in the oven
- Ideal for pot pouri
-If the flowers we use have different sizes, the baking time per flower may vary.
- Also suitable for more "mature" flowers
We do not recommend it as it has many drawbacks with first and foremost that most flowers crook their stalks during drainage and usually does not have the best final result.
But if we bored and we do not want to do anything but want to keep the flowers that someone send us we can try it!
1. First we remove most leaves from the flowers.
2. Fill a jar with few water, about 5 cm high (equal to their stalks)
3. Place the jar in a dark place, such as a cupboard, for 1-2 weeks.
4. When the water evaporates it is ready !!
Tips for dehumidifying in a jar
- Ideal flowers are hydrangea, amaranth and gypsophyll
- Nothing else!
General tips
-Note that not all the flowers are suited equally for drying.
Some of the unsuitable ones are geraniums, violets, chrysanthemums, poppies and lilies.
-Also, make sure to select flowers that are still buds or just begin to open their petals rather than overripe, so they can keep their freshness - and be more durable - in time!
-We harvest our flowers from morning until early afternoon, in a dry climate without humidity, with sunshine, so we can get drying in even shorter time.
-We avoid the collection after watering or rain as the quality and shape of the flowers are altered during drying.
-In any technique we mentioned each species and size of flower differs in the times required.
