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To enjoy the living color of the garden in your home all winter, try your hand at drying flowers.
Select flowers after dew has evaporated and before they have fully opened. Keep them protected from direct sunlight to preserve color.
Air Drying Method: Strip leaves from stems and tie together in bunches of less than a dozen. Hang upside down in a dark, airy spot that stays fairly warm. Drying times can vary from three to six weeks. Roses, marigolds, zinnias, and herbs such as sage and thyme air dry satisfactorily.
Silica Gel Method: Craft stores and garden centers usually carry these water absorbent crystals. Fill air-tight container half full of silica gel, then set fleshy flowers, with foliage stripped off, gently into the crystals. Trickle gel carefully over the petals, until they are covered and the crystals have settled between the petals. Tightly close container. The flower should be ready in about a week depending on the type of flower. The crystals can be reused.
Micro waving Method: Technology allows a faster method. Place flower in glass half-filled with silica gel, then gently cover with additional gel crystals. A cup of water should be placed in the microwave alongside the flower glass. Full power for one minute will work for most flowers, but some experimentation will be necessary. Allow to cool before pouring gel out and removing flowers.
Frieda Parker, Smith County Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Collecting and drying blooms from herb or flower gardens, ditches, roadsides, or river beds can be fun. In order to have a supply of preserved materials, choose the method which best suits your needs. Preserving or drying flowers with silica gel, borax or simply by air drying or pressing, gets the desired results.
Silica gel crystals absorb moisture from the flower and plant and are available at craft stores. Begin by placing one to two inches of silica gel in the bottom of the container and then place the flower stems upright into the gel. Add one additional inch of gel for support and make sure petals do not touch each other. Microwave at one minute increments until dry. Afterwards, gently shake off excess crystals and store the dried flowers in a tightly secured container in a dry and dark place. When properly dry, the flowers should feel brittle and somewhat papery to the touch. Silica gel crystals can be reused by simply heating the oven to 250 degrees F. for an hour which restores the crystals for your next use.
Borax is used in the same manner as silica gel and though less expensive, takes twice as long for drying time and colors may not preserve quite as well. With borax, place the flowers face down and leave the lid off of the container while the flowers are drying.
Air drying is a somewhat easier way to preserve. Collect flowers at mid-day and strip off leaves. Stems are gathered together and bound with elastic ties. Hang flowers upside down in a dark, well ventilated room. This may take two to three weeks to get the desired results.
Finally, pressing flowers is a means of preservation. Place the flower into facial tissue and cover with another layer of tissue and newspaper and place books on top used to weigh down and press. This manner may take three to four weeks to succeed. Unfortunately, while doing so, the flowers can no longer be used for three dimensional arrangements. Instead, use flowers for a picture and arrange in an air tight picture frame.
By choosing to dry and preserve your flowers, you can create flowers of enjoyment for a long time.
Sharon Reiland, Smith County Master Gardener
Texas AgriLife Extension Service