Preserving flowers
The most popular and easiest way of preserving flowers is air drying. The secret of success is to find a place which is dark and comfortably warm - the airing cupboard is a favourite spot.
Pick a dry day to cut any flowers from the garden you would like to dry. Pick blooms before they are fully open. Seed heads should be sprayed lightly with a hair spray. Leaves low down the stem need to be removed and excess moisture wiped away with paper.
Tie the stems together in bundles of around 5 to 10 stems, using string or raffia. Make sure the flower heads don't touch each other or they will dry damaged and flattened.
Hang bundles upside down choose a place which is dry and airy and dark with reasonable warmth. These conditions are very important to dry the materials well. Tie the bunches on a line/wire or rod and spread out to allow the air to circulate around the bunches. Drying will take 1-8 weeks, depending on the variety of plant material. The material is fully preserved once it is crisp all over.
Suitable plant material for this type of preserving are :
Achillea
Alchemilla
Amaranthus
Astilbe
Delphinium
Echinops
Erica
Eryngium
Lavandula
Liatris
Limonium
Lunaria
Nigella
Papaver Physalis
Solidago
Other methods of drying plant materials is also advised for different types of flowers, such as roses prefer to be dried stood up in a vase. Other materials prefer to be layed flat such as proteas.
Desiccants
There are other methods to preserve flowers to create different effects. Desiccant is a fine grained material which readily absorbs moisture, when placed in close contact with flowers it can preserve them quite quickly. Much more of the original colour and shape of the flower is preserved in tact. The desiccants itself can be costly and it is a time consuming, fiddly job to undertake.
Suitable plant materials for desiccant preserving are :
Alstromeria
Anemone
Camellia
Chrysanths
Dahlia
Freesia
Gerbera
Lily
Mimosia
Muscari
Paeony
Primula
Rose
Tulip
Viola
Glycerine
Glycerine is another way of preserving foliage. There are only a few flowers it is suitable to preserve. It doesn't dry the material so it is brittle like other techniques. It is extremely pliable and will last for years if properly stored. It does change the colour to creams and shades of browns, and some shades of dark green.
This technique is generally used for preserving leafy stems or large individual leaves.
Cut and prepare the plant material, conditioning it as you would if it was being left fresh. Make sure that all lower and any damaged leaves are removed, the foliage is clean and stem has been cut diagonally.
Choose a container which is tall enough to hold the stems upright. Roughly mix 1 part glycerine to 2 parts near boiling water - pour some of this into the container and insert the stems so they are standing in approx. 3 in (7.5cm) of the liquid. Then keep this in a cool and shady place.
Inspect the materials at weekly intervals. The upper leaves of longer stems should be wiped occasionally with a cloth soaked in the glycerine solution. It is time to remove the stems from the solution when all the leaves have changed colour. There is no need to wait until drops of glycerine begin to ooze out onto the leaf surface.
This preserving process will take approx.1-8 weeks depending on the plant material used – top up the solution if necessary. Pat dry with a paper towel and either store or place in a flower arrangement. If possible hang materials upside down for a few days before use.
Suitable materials for this type of preserving:
Buxus
Camellia
Choisya
Elaeagnus
Eucalyptus
Ferns
Hygrangea
Ilex
Molucella
Prunus
Quercus Rose
Salix
Other forms of preserving flowers are skeletonising and microwaving.
Last Update: 14th March 2008
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