Posted on November 10 2019
How to preserve flowers is an important question, because a flower isn't always just a flower—it is often connected to memories you don't want to forget.
Did you receive a flower or bouquet for your birthday? Perhaps you've had the happy occasion of getting married and want to preserve your wedding bouquet; or, maybe, you simply have lots of roses in your garden, and you would like to prevent them from drying up and withering away when the winter season comes. In this article, I will outline a number of ways to preserve your flowers so they can last forever.
The process of preserving flowers depends a lot upon the state of the bloom: Have the petals fallen off? Has the rose turned brown? Are the flower and stem looking a bit limp? The best time to preserve your flowers is when they are in full bloom.
These are all important things to consider before you begin the preservation process.
Flower Preservation Tips
Here are some helpful tips when it comes to preserving flowers. These pointers will help you in your quest to keep your flowers looking beautiful in their preserved state.
Think about what you want to do with them: Don't preserve the flowers just to let them sit in your closet forever. Think about what you want to do with your flowers. Are they going to be a gift for someone? Are you going to frame them and hang them on the wall? Decide what use you will have for the flowers before you start the preservation process.
Figure out a good location to put them: Make space in your house for the flowers, and find a spot where they can permanently reside. Again, this depends on the preservation method, but you should try to find a suitable location before you start.
Have plenty of preservation materials on hand: You will need hooks, rubber bands, scissors, silica gel, sand, and paper depending on what method you want to use.
Keep the flowers out of direct sunlight: The light from the sun will cause the color to fade from the flowers, so try to avoid that. Be sure that you have a place to put the flowers where they will be visible but away from any large glass doors or windows. The last thing you want is for your beautiful and colorful flowers to fade after a few months.
Be prepared to lose some flowers in the process: Understand that there is a chance that some of the flowers will get damaged or destroyed as you try to preserve them. You can take extra care to ensure that nothing happens but sometimes the flowers end up too brittle and they crack unexpectedly.
8 Ways to Preserve Flowers
Here are eight methods for preserving those precious flowers. You will have to determine which one will work best for your situation. Your situation depends on the type of flowers you are trying to preserve and where you want to display the flowers.
Glycerin: Soak the flowers in glycerin and let them absorb the substance. This will cause the water in the flowers to be replaced with glycerin, and it will keep them looking fresh.
Freeze Drying: Take your flowers to a professional freeze-drying company and get them frozen.
Air Drying: Wrap your flowers up with rubber bands and hang them upside down on a hook in a well-ventilated area.
Pressing: Use a heavy book and some absorbent paper and press the flowers. Place the paper around the flower and put it in the middle of the book and close. Make sure the book is heavy enough to press the flower.
Microwaving: Cover the flowers in absorbent material and place them in the microwave on a moderate setting. Check to see if all of the water has been taken out of the flower before finishing.
Epoxy Resin: Get a mold and fill it halfway up with resin, then place the flowers inside the resin in the arrangement you want. Fill the rest of the mold in with resin and let it harden.
Sand: Place the flowers in a bowl of sand and let them sit until all of the moisture has been taken out. Gently brush off all of the grains of sand.
Silica Gel: Place an inch or two of silica gel in a container, then place your flowers on top and cover with another inch of silica gel. Place the let on the container and let it sit until all of the water has been pulled out of the flowers.