Are you looking for a creative approach to keep your yard looking beautiful all year? Consider drying flowers! Whether you have a green thumb or enjoy the beauty of flowers, understanding how to dry them is an important skill.
Discover the best flowers for drying, how to dry them properly, and how to keep their vibrant colours intact with this in-depth guide.
Prepare to discover the secrets of this ageless craft!
For What Purpose Do We Dry Flowers?
The flowering seasons of summer, spring, and fall are over far too quickly.
Not to mention the perpetual winter's grey skies and snowy and brown ground.
In particular, for the rest of us counting the days till next spring.
The beauty of past seasons can be preserved and enjoyed for much longer with dried flowers.
After the gardens have been laid down for the winter, nothing is better than the slow but beautiful process of bringing out and using dried flowers.
In addition, making something lovely in the peaceful winter months is a lot of fun.
When you cultivate the best flowers for drying at home, making your own dried flower arrangements is simple and can save you money.
Beautiful as they develop in your garden, these plants' blossoms can be stored and preserved to add colour and longevity to your home decor.
Best Flowers to Dry and Preserve
What are the best flowers for preserving and drying?
You may not have noticed, but dried flowers have been making a significant comeback in interior design.
In this part, we'll go over which flowers work best when dried.
We will also discuss various methods for drying flowers.
We'll start with the basics and demonstrate how to build upon them.
Lavender
Lavender's wonderful fragrance has become a widespread cleansing and purifying agent for generations.
Your summer garden will be awash in colour and aroma from the best lavenders for drying.
Beautiful and fragrant sachets, potpourri, and decorative dried flowers result.
The dried flowers have numerous other uses, including in teas, baked goods, and the creation of all-natural household cleaners and beauty items.
Lavender can be harvested as early as spring since the more you prune it, the more blossoms it will produce.
Lavender grows bushier and more attractive after being harvested.
When the dew has dried, early morning is the best time to pluck the younger buds. Lavender should be lopped off just above a branch split.
The wands should be hung upside down in a dark, warm area with plenty of air movement.
Rose
Can anything top the romance of a bouquet of dried roses?
Dried roses are the standard by which all other dried flowers are measured.
The rose, a favourite of gardeners and florists, is one of the most popularly grown and displayed flowers worldwide.
Dried flowers, whether individual petals, rosebuds, or entire flowers, are extremely flexible.
Dried roses can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including rosehip oil, rosebud topiary, rose petal jelly, and extravagant huge table centrepieces.
Consider planting the least demanding rose varieties to enjoy continuous blooms from summer into fall.
These vibrant flowers may be dried and arranged quickly, looking as fantastic as when you first cut them.
Celosia
A traditional dried flower sparkles with plumes of feathery white, cream, or pink, as well as sunset-inspired reds, oranges, and yellows.
The beautiful flower heads of celosia, which bloom from summer to fall, make it a great choice for fresh or dried flower arrangements.
This is one of the most self-seeding annual flowers you can cultivate from seed. It works wonderfully in a low-care cottage garden.
Cut celosia stems when flowers are about 90% open. Dry for a month while hanging upside down in a cold, dark place.
Strawflower
Dried Strawflowers, sometimes called Everlastings, are beautiful and survive long. It is important to note that this plant is a native of Australia and thrives in hot, dry climates.
Strawflowers are an absolute must-have for everyone who wants to bring beauty to their garden all year round.
This long-blooming annual strawflower is a lot of joy to tend. Due to its high quality when dried, it is commonly cultivated for the dried flower industry.
Strawflowers are easiest to work with if picked early before the flower centres have fully opened.
Remove the leaves and trim the stems to 12-15 inches. Keep them upside down in a cool, dark place with plenty of airflows.
In two to three weeks, they will be ready for usage.
Statice
The annual plant statice is another excellent dried flower. A stunning cut flower, Statice grows on sturdy stems to a height of 24 inches (60 centimetres).
These low-maintenance flowers have long been used as a standard filler in dried flower bouquets.
The tiny white flowers sit atop the colourful funnel-shaped calyces that make up its flower clusters.
Statice is in full flower throughout the warm, dry months of July, August, and September.
After the flowers have withered, just the papery calyces are left. When the weather is dry, and most of the calyces have colour, you should cut this magnificent flower.
Globe Thistle
Dried blue flowers from globe thistle's gorgeous spherical bloom heads are a sight.
The globe thistle is a perennial plant that can withstand dry conditions and attract beneficial insects, including bees.
Its exotic blossoms also work wonderfully in creative dried flower arrangements.
These perennial blooms have a spiky ball form at the head of a long stem that eventually fills with star-shaped, blue flowers.
When these flowers are in full bloom, they draw in various pollinators.
Before the flowers open is the ideal time to pick them for drying.
Stonecrop
Stonecrop flowers dry brilliantly while still on the plant, making them an incredibly simple dried flower option.
They frequently keep their original form and hue.
It's exciting to think they might stick around all winter.
The addition of stonecrop to the rock garden is highly recommended.
There's a huge range of sizes and shapes to choose from. Succulent plants are hardy and beautiful in the sun.
Hydrangea
The huge spherical blooms of hydrangeas are beautiful while fresh and preserved and used in flower arrangements.
These beautiful, long-lasting blooms are available from summer through spring.
Flowers of other colours than white, such as blue, pink, and purple, can also be ordered.
Yarrow
The beautiful flat flower umbels of yarrow are perfect for dried flower arrangements.
This drought-resistant perennial comes in a wide selection of colours, allowing you to pick the one that best complements your garden's aesthetic.
Teas made from yarrow are a useful therapeutic ingredient.
This plant is so hardy that it may thrive even in soils with a high clay content.
When most of the flowers on a stalk have opened, the best time to pick a yarrow for drying is either in the morning or the evening.
Proper Techniques for Drying Flowers
It's simple to dry flowers from your garden. Here's how:
- Gather flowers first thing in the morning before they open all the way. When harvesting flowers, it's also best to cut off between five to six inches of the stalk.
- Remove leaves and other foliage from stems.
- Wrap a rubber band around a bunch of 8-10 stalks, or use a twist tie.
- Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight by hanging the bundle upside down from a hanger or a hook. Storage areas like attics, garages, and closets with good airflow are perfect.
- Flowers will be entirely dried in two to three weeks (or sooner if the climate is warmer). Even if their original hues fade, most flowers will still seem beautiful.
Strawflowers and delicate stems must be wired to keep their shape after drying.
To create a long stem, insert a 20-gauge or florist wire through the calyx's centre and draw it out on the other side. Then, use the method mentioned above to dry flowers.
Consider flash-drying as an option for a quicker drying time.
Pick your flowers and immediately toss them into your car's trunk to speed-dry them.
Other large flowers can be quickly dried in the trunk of a car.
Put them in the sun for 24 hours in the trunk of your car.
After drying, they should crinkle like tissue paper.
When you rub their petals, you should hear that sound.
Flower Pressing
Pressing flowers is a creative approach to preserving their beauty.
Place something hefty (like a dictionary or encyclopaedia) on top. Spread open the centre and use parchment or wax paper to line the facing sheets.
The petals should be placed on the parchment upside down, and the book should be closed.
Dry for a week or more.
Silica gel, available at craft shops, can be used to preserve your bouquet.
It's something like sand in texture.
A box of silica gel will keep your flower bouquet fresh for a week if you bury it inside.
Conclusion
Drying flowers is a timeless craft that preserves and enjoys past seasons.
Lavender, a centuries-old purifier, makes the best dried flowers.
Lavender can be picked in spring for teas, baked goods, and natural cleaning and beauty products.
Teas, baked goods, and natural household cleansers and beauty products can use lavender. Roses, lavender, celosia, strawflowers, and statice dry well.
After harvesting, lavender becomes bushier and more appealing. Cut it above a branch split.
Roses are used for rosehip oil, rosebud topiary, rose petal jelly, and table centrepieces.
Self-seeding annual flowers include celosia.
Strawflowers are attractive and last long if harvested early before the flower centres open.
Statice grows 24 inches (60 cm) on robust stalks.
Statice, globe thistle, stonecrop, hydrangea, and yarrow make good dried flower arrangements.
Statice blooms in July, August, and September.
Globe thistle is a drought-tolerant perennial that attracts beneficial insects.
Hydrangeas are lovely fresh, but stonecrops dry beautifully. Drought-resistant yarrow comes in several colours.
Morning or evening is best for drying yarrow. Gather flowers in the morning, cut off five to six inches of the stalk, tie a rubber band around 8-10 stalks, and store them in a cold, dry, well-ventilated spot out of direct sunlight.
Flash-drying speeds drying. Pressing flowers preserves their beauty. Silica gel preserves bouquets.
Content Summary
- If you wish there was a unique way to ensure that your yard remained attractive throughout the year, think about flower drying!
- Learning how to dry flowers is an essential skill for everyone who appreciates their aesthetic value or has a green thumb.
- Learn which flowers work best for drying, how to do it safely, and how to preserve the flowers' original hues in this comprehensive guide.
- Summer, spring, and fall are fleeting in their floral glory.
- Dried flowers allow us to keep the beauty of bygone seasons around for much longer.
- Nothing beats the serene beauty of bringing out dried flowers after the gardens have been put to bed for the winter.
- It's also a lot of fun to make something beautiful in the quiet of winter.
- Growing the best flowers for drying at home makes creating your own dried flower arrangements easy and cost-effective.
- The flowers from these plants look lovely as they bloom in your garden, and they may be conserved to use later.
- Dried flowers have made a huge resurgence in recent years, and you might not even have noticed.
- The greatest lavender for drying will fill your summer landscape with colour and fragrance.
- The end products are sachets, potpourri, and dried flowers that are both aesthetically pleasing and aromatic.
- The dried flowers can be used in a variety of ways outside just making tea and baked goods; they can also be used to make natural cleaning products and cosmetics.
- After being picked, lavender plants quickly return to their full, beautiful form.
- It's preferable to pick the younger blooms first thing in the morning after the dew has evaporated.
- The ideal place to cut lavender is above a branch's natural severance point.
- The wands need to be hung inverted in a cool, dark place with lots of air circulation.
- All other types of dried flowers are compared to dried roses.
- Gardeners and florists all over the world agree: the rose is the most beautiful flower there is.
- Petal pieces, rosebuds, and whole dried flowers all have a wide range of uses.
- There is a vast range of uses for dried roses, from rosehip oil and rosebud topiary to rose petal jelly and grand, oversized table centrepieces.
- If you want to have roses blooming continuously from summer through fall, you should plant the low-maintenance types.
- A classic dried flower shimmers with plumes of white, cream, or pink, as well as reds, oranges, and yellows reminiscent of a sunset.
- Celosia, with its showy flower heads that bloom from summer to fall, is a popular option for both fresh and dried floral arrangements.
- When grown from seed, this annual flower spreads rapidly by producing its own offspring.
- It's perfect for a low-maintenance landscape setting.
- When the flowers are about 90% open, cut the celosia stalks.
- Hanging upside down in the dark and the cold for a month to dry.
- Everlastings, another name for dried Strawflowers, are stunning and long-lasting.
- This plant is originally from Australia and prefers warm, dry conditions.
- If you want your yard to look beautiful all year long, you need to invest in some strawflowers.
- The annual strawflower has a lengthy flowering season and is a pleasure to care for.
- Dried to high quality, it is often grown for the dried flower market.
- These low-maintenance blossoms are a standard component of dried flower arrangements.
- Its flower clusters, which are topped with tiny white blooms, are made up of calyces that are fashioned like coloured funnels.
- The months of July, August, and September are warm and dry, perfect for statice to bloom.
- The papery calyces are all that is left once the flowers have dried up.
- This gorgeous flower should be cut when the weather is dry, and most of the calyces have colour.
- The beautiful, blue, dried flower heads of the globe thistle, which are shaped like globes, are a sight to behold.
- The globe thistle is a hardy perennial that draws in pollinators like bees despite its arid tolerance.
- Dried flower arrangements made from its exotic blooms are guaranteed to impress.
- These perennials start out looking like spiky balls at the top of long stems that are eventually covered in star-shaped, blue flowers.
- When these blossoms are at their peak, several different species of pollinators are attracted to them.
- The best time to harvest flowers for drying is just before they open.
- Stonecrop flowers are one of the easiest kinds of dried flowers to work with since they dry beautifully while still on the plant.
- Their initial structure and colouration often remain unchanged.
- It's thrilling to contemplate the possibility that they'll stay all winter.
- Stonecrop is a great plant to include in a rock garden.
- There is a dizzying array of shapes and sizes available.
- Succulents thrive in direct sunlight and look stunning while doing so.
- Hydrangeas, with their large, round flowers, are stunning both when they are fresh and when they have been preserved and used in floral arrangements.
- You may purchase these gorgeous perennials all the way into April.
- Blue, pink, and purple flowers can also be selected in addition to the standard white.
- Yarrow's lovely flat umbels of flowers are great for use in dried flower arrangements.
- This drought-resistant perennial is available in a wide range of colours, so you can find the perfect match for your garden's design.
- Yarrow flowers and leaves can be brewed into a soothing tea.
- The best time to harvest yarrow for drying is in the morning or evening when the majority of the blooms on a stalk have opened.
- Dried garden flowers are easy to make.
- Early in the morning, before the flowers have fully opened, is the best time to collect them.
- It is recommended that between five and six inches of the stalk be removed while picking flowers.
- Leaf and other plant debris must be stripped from the stems.
- Rubber band or twist bind a group of 8-10 stalks together.
- After two to three weeks, depending on temperature, flowers will be completely dry.
- Drying can ruin the shape of strawflowers and other delicate stems unless they are wired before drying.
- Then, dry the blooms using the previously described technique.
- If you need something dried quickly, flash-drying might be something to look into.
- After picking your flowers, you can quickly dry them by placing them in the trunk of your car.
- Drying other large flowers in a car's trunk is a quick and easy option.
- Leave them in the trunk of your car in direct sunlight for a whole day.
- They ought to dry with the crumple of tissue paper.
- The art of flower pressing is a unique way to keep their splendour forever.
FAQs About Drying Flowers
How do I know if a flower is suitable for drying?
Not all flowers are created equal when it comes to drying. Some flowers are too delicate to withstand the drying process, while others may not retain their colour or shape. A general rule of thumb is to choose flowers with sturdy stems and petals that are not too thick or waxy. Good examples include roses, lavender, chamomile, and strawflowers. Research the specific flower you want to dry to ensure it is suitable.
What are the best ways to dry flowers without them losing their colour?
The best way to preserve the colour of dried flowers is to dry them in a cool, dark place with good air circulation. Avoid drying flowers in direct sunlight or high heat, as this can cause the flowers to fade or wilt. Also, harvest flowers at the peak of their bloom when the colour is the most vibrant. Lastly, try using a drying agent like silica gel to absorb moisture from the flowers and preserve their colour.
Can I use hairspray to preserve the colour of dried flowers?
While hairspray can be used as a quick fix to set the colour of dried flowers, it is not recommended for long-term preservation. Hairspray contains chemicals that can cause the flowers to become brittle and discoloured over time. Instead, use a drying agent like silica gel or store the flowers in a cool, dark place with good air circulation.
Can I use dried flowers for cooking or making tea?
Yes, many dried flowers can be used for cooking or making tea. However, it is important to ensure that the flowers are safe for consumption and have not been treated with pesticides or other chemicals. Good options for culinary use include lavender, rose petals, chamomile, and hibiscus.
What are the best containers for storing dried flowers?
The best containers for storing dried flowers are airtight and moisture-proof. Mason jars, glass containers with tight-fitting lids, and plastic containers with snap-on lids are all good options. Be sure to label the containers with the name of the flower and the date it was dried. Store the containers in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.