How to dry your own flowers

by Elise Finnerty May 27, 2020

How to Air Dry Flowers

Flowers with high water content like lilies are not suitable for drying.

Flowers in full bloom are more likely to lose their petals when drying. Start the process sooner rather than later for optimal drying.

Some flower colours dry with more vibrancy than others do. Orange & yellow flowers dry with the most vibrancy, while purple and blue flowers can dry darker and pinks tend to fade.

1. Strip excess foliage from flowers and cut stems to the desired length. To help flowers retain their colour during the drying process, make sure to remove them from sunlight as soon as they’re cut. Hang flowers individually or rubber-band stems together (but not too many (8 max) - you don't want your flowers to get mouldy).

2. Find a dark, dry area with good air circulation (we have a rail hanging system with whirlybirds to keep the air circulating). Use twine or cotton to hang the flowers from the bottom of their stems and leave them for two to three weeks until completely dry.

3. Remove flowers from hangers and spray with unscented hairspray for protection.

Water + vase method

Place the freshly cut stems in a few inches of water and forget about them.

Once all the water is evaporated, the flowers should be upright and perky, but dry.

Crispy Hydrangeas Banksias and proteas are good choices for this method, as blooms with more tender stalks might droop so opt for the woody stem varieties.

Preserving

Coming soon

Waxing

Coming soon

There are other methods of drying and preserving flowers such as Silica gel, Freeze-drying, microwave drying and pressing flowers but we don't use these methods.