Freddie’s Top Tips for Preserving Flowers
Have you ever loved one of your floral arrangements so much, you wish you could keep it even longer than it would last in your vase? Our bud-to-bloom method already guarantees a long vase life for your Freddie’s bunches, but what if you could extend its life beyond that? We’re here to tell you about a few methods that’ll allow you to do just that, each using your flowers and creativity in different ways.
Depending on how you want to display or use your stems, there’s a few methods that are not only fun to try but also focus on making something to last, a mindful alternative to waste. In this short guide, we’ll give you an overview of the best practices for home flower preservation, such as drying and pressing flowers.
Drying Flowers
One of the most well-known ways to preserve flowers is by drying them. This is perfect for displaying them as dried arrangements, much in the same way you would usually arrange your flowers - except you don’t need to bother with water and flower food.
The first important thing to consider before drying your flowers, is that not all of them will dry equally well. You want to make sure to pick stems that retain their shape and colour to make the most of your dried arrangements. Some excellent flowering stems for that purpose are statice, limonium, or kangaroo paw, which keep their flower shape intact and won’t lose any vibrancy in colour. It’s also nice to add branches, such as twisted willow, to add some more height and drama to your floral display.
How to dry flowers
Hanging to dry
The easiest way to achieve good results for a dried arrangement is to simply hang your flowers upside down and air-dry them for a while. It’s super simple and doesn’t require any fancy equipment, except for whichever makes-shift way you choose to hang them up. Other than some string to tie up the bunches, the only thing you’ll need is a bit of patience, as you should ideally let them hang for at least 2-3 weeks to ensure they’re fully dried.
On the bright side, even before you arrange them, the drying bushels themselves look lovely and add a certain charm wherever you’re choosing to store them.
Silica Gel to dry
Another way to dry your flowers is by using silica gel. If you’re really keen and don’t want to wait for a few weeks, this is a quick way to achieve great results. You will however need a bit more equipment, such as silica gel - which you can order online or purchase from DIY and hardware stores, and an airtight container.
The advantage of this method is that it helps more delicate blooms, such as chrysanthemums, hydrangeas, or roses retain their shape and colour, which they wouldn’t necessarily if you just hung them to dry.
Method
- Pour the silica gel into your container, creating a roughly 1-2 inch layer.
- Place your blooms on top, making sure to keep some space between them.
- Gently pour in more silica gel until your flowers are covered completely, while being careful not to squash them.
- Seal your container and store it in a cool, dry place for at least a week. Some flowers may take longer, so do make sure to check on it.
- When you remove your flowers, be careful to gently brush off any excess crystals.
Pressing Flowers
Another great way to keep your flowers around for longer is by pressing them, which is lovely to infuse all sorts of crafts with some floral essence - whether that’s scrapbooking, making your own botany journal, or making a bookmark, for instance. There’s many flower pressing techniques available to you, so we’ll highlight the most common ones here.
Pressing flat
The most straightforward way is to simply press your flowers flat. Now, if you’re a right professional, you may already have a flower press, or if you’re a bit of a DIY whizz you can look up some videos online to make your own flower press, using some flat sheets of wood, and some nuts and bolts to tighten the mechanism. If you’re neither, don’t fret, some heavy books will do the job just as well.
The key for flower pressing this way is to make sure you’re layering up right. We recommend using cardboard, as well as some absorbent paper in this sequence: Cardboard as backboard, then paper, then your flowers, and another sheet of paper, followed by the next layers in the same way. If you’re using a press, make sure to tighten it every few days, while for the books you can just add more to it.
Ironing
Another way to press your flowers is by using an iron to speed up the process. You’ll need an iron, ironing board, and some greaseproof sheets, such as baking paper. Follow this method:
- Press your flowers a little bit before, using some heavy books, to make them a bit more flat.
- Heat up your iron and make sure you don’t use a steam setting, as the goal is to remove moisture.
- Place your flowers on your greaseproof paper and then cover them with another sheet of the same paper.
- Place the hot iron on your blooms and hold it in place for about 10 seconds - no need to move it around - and then take it off briefly.
- Repeat the previous step until you can’t hear a sizzling sound anymore and the flowers feel firm and dry.
We hope this little guide helps you kickstart a few creative ideas you may have to extend the life of your favourite stems or arrangements. There’s really no limits to what you can do with dried or pressed flowers!
