How many of you have gone into a 'craft' or home decorating store and saw the vast varieties of dry flowers for decorating your home? I know, I have and while cruising through the store, I began to visualize creating my own dried flowers. A heck of lot cheaper and more rewarding when you do it yourself. You decide! Drying flowers has long been a method of preserving the color and beauty of the bounty of the garden. Whether they are used in bouquets, potpourri, on hats, in wreaths, or whatever, dried flowers inspire us to recreate a gentler time of beauty in our-homes.
Some of the flowers to use in drying include straw-flowers, globe amaranth, cockscomb, baby's breath, Chinese lantern, money plant, and statice. Blue sage is interesting, as are the seed pods of love-in-a-mist. Don't forget ornamental grasses, too. Even zinnias and marigolds can be dried for your creations.
Many flowers can be air dried. This involves cutting them when the dew is gone, tying several stems together with a string after the leaves are removed, and hanging in a cool, dark, well ventilated place. Drying time varies from plant to plant, so check them every once in awhile. When they feel crisp, take them down and store in boxes or paper bags.
Most flowers can be used as they are, but some, like straw-flowers, will need wire stems to use them in bouquets. To wire, cut off the stem and thread a length of 20 gauge florists wire through the center. Make a 2 inch hairpin bend at the top, and carefully pull it through the center of the flower. Cover the new stem with floral tape.
Some flowers need a drying agent in order to preserve them. Use something like fresh kitty fitter, sand, a white cornmeal-and-borax mixture, or silica gel. The gel will give you the best results. It is commercially available and sold under several different trade names. Check with your garden center, or maybe a craft store. Flat flowers like pansies or daisies are best if placed face down. Flowers with many petals, like calendulas, mums, and asters do better when facing up. Experiment to find the best way for yourself. Spikes of flowers, like snaps and sage are placed horizontally. Very carefully, add more drying agent until the flowers are completely covered up. Drying time varies among specimens, but check them after several days. Dry petals will feel like paper. Store the dried flowers in boxes with a little silica gel to absorb any moisture in the air.
Ye olde trusty microwave can help to speed up the drying process. Prepare a few flowers at a time in a small dish and put in the microwave along with a cup of water. "Cook" on medium for 10 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the flower. Experiment with the timing because the conditions are so variable. After using the microwave, allow the flowers to cool in the drying agent for a few hours to a day or so.
Flowers like daisies, petunias, and pansies with their flat faces, are good to press and use for decorating stationery, bookmarks, or making pictures. Place 3 flowers between sheets of blotting paper and put in a flower press or weight down with books. Check them after a week to see how they are doing. Fern fronds are good for pressing, too.
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