Flowers are a piece of heaven on earth. Their wondrous beauty is unique. Each inflorescence enchants, and it doesn’t matter if it is a field of grass or a bud of an exotic plant. Bouquets decorate the house, delight the eye, improve mood. Especially if the flowers are received as a gift from a person dear to the heart. But the life of cut bouquets is short. How to save a gentle gift for a longer period? Simply! You can dry the bouquet, keeping it for a long memory. Before drying flowers, it is important to follow some simple rules so that the final result is pleased.
Suitable materials
Almost any flowers can be dried. But for each type of plant, certain conditions are required. Some dry well in the air, others require sand, and others can only be stored under pressure. One thing remains the same: only fresh flowers can be dried. If the bouquet has stood in water for several days, then nothing will work. The buds simply fade, losing their appeal.
You need to collect flowers for drying in dry weather. It is better to do this after 11 o'clock in the afternoon, when the dew has completely dried up, and the buds have time to open. For future dry bouquets, it is necessary to choose plants without defects, such as dry tips, spots on the petals and leaves. Flowers should be open, not fading.
If you want to keep a bouquet bought in a flower pavilion, you should begin this process immediately after purchase. After all, these flowers have already come a rather long way from the nursery, where they were grown, to the buyer.
Herbarium
The easiest and most common way to dry plants is under pressure. Before you dry the flowers for the herbarium, they must be straightened, give them the desired shape. Voluminous flowers, such as peony, cannot be saved in this way, but you can separate the petals. For such drying, an old book or a stack of read newspapers is suitable. Arrange prepared plants between sheets of paper, cover with several more layers of paper and press down on top. The thicker the paper, the faster the herbarium will be ready. Paper absorbs moisture from plants. To speed up the process, you need to change the layers of paper. Herbarium drying takes place within a week, sometimes faster, depending on air humidity and flower thickness.
Finished products are obtained flat, they are good to use in the manufacture of panels, decorations using epoxy resin, cards, candles and other decor items.
Hanging
To preserve the volume of flowers, a method such as a herbarium is not suitable. For the preparation of volumetric compositions, you can use drying in limbo. You can save cereals, wild flowers and some types of garden. This method is good both for the queen of the rose garden, and for daisies, calendula, buttercups and other flowers.
Collected plants need to be cleaned from the lower leaves, to make beautiful bunches, forming the future composition. Cut the stems on the same level. Plants of the same species should be collected in one bundle and bandaged with a thin rope. It is not necessary to squeeze the stems very much, otherwise they can break in the process, and the free air permeability will contribute to faster drying and preservation of shape. If the branches are fluffy and voluminous, then you can hang each individually.
In a well-ventilated dark room, pull a rope or wire and hang prepared bundles on it with clothespins. During the drying process, the direct rays of the sun should not fall on the plants, otherwise bright colors of delicate colors will fade.
It is important to protect them from dust and ventilate regularly. The procedure will last about two weeks depending on the type of plant.
This method is simple, does not require financial and time costs and is easily controlled. From the resulting beams you can make beautiful compositions. It is good in this way to dry and twigs with berries.
Sand and cotton
To preserve the color and shape of the bud, you can place the flowers in sand, silica powder or cotton wool. How to dry flowers using these materials? Not at all complicated.
Unfortunately, only buds are dried in this way. Stems must be cut, leaving a maximum of 3 cm (for roses up to 8 cm). In this way, you can save almost any flower - delicate lilies, bright gerberas, modest daisies and moody peonies.
Sand must be prepared in advance. It should be clean (rinse recommended), dry (can be calcined in the oven) and uniform (sift through a sieve).
Pour a layer of sand about 2 cm onto the bottom of the cardboard box. Carefully spread the prepared buds so that they do not touch each other. Daisies and similar flowers need to be laid in a bud down, but voluminous roses must be placed with their heads up. In order to properly dry the flowers, maintain their shape, gently sprinkle the buds with sand. You can pour it into a plastic bag, the top of which is tightly tied. In the bottom corner, make a small hole through which sand will pour out in a thin stream, the layer of which should completely cover the buds and still cover a couple of centimeters for even distribution of moisture. To speed up the process, the filler can be heated.
Put the box in a dry, well-ventilated place. The drying process will take from one to three weeks, depending on the starting material. You can control the process by slightly digging up the filler layer and checking readiness. The finished flower looks like a paper, but the petals do not break when touched. When the bud is ready, a hole should be made in the bottom of the box through which the contents pour out. From buds stuck grains of sand can be shaken off.
If you are interested in how to dry flowers in the sand, you can use the novelty of gardeners - silica gel. It can be purchased in stores for summer residents. The use process is similar to that described above. Crystals can be used repeatedly.
Ordinary cotton wool can also be used. It absorbs moisture perfectly and maintains the shape of delicate petals.
Paraffin method
Paraffin can preserve almost all flowers. But this method is quite painstaking. Paraffin to melt. With a small brush dipped in hot liquid, treat each petal of the flower, making movements from the edge of the petal to the core of the bud. Wait for the workpiece to dry. All!
Glycerin preservation
Any of the above methods deprives plants of moisture, makes them fragile. But how to dry a bouquet of flowers and maintain their elasticity? There is a way - conservation in glycerin.
You can tightly put small buds and twigs in a beautiful transparent container and pour glycerol solution, plug and leave in a conspicuous place. Ready art object is ready.
For ikebans, they use a slightly different approach. A solution consisting of one part of glycerol and two parts of hot water is poured into the tray and the buds and leaves are placed there. It is worth noting that stalks cannot be saved in this way. Cover the tray on top so that all plants are immersed in the working solution. After 3 days, the resulting workpiece should be removed and patted with a dry cloth, removing excess moisture. Flowers and leaves preserved in this way retain their color and elasticity. They can be safely used in composing compositions. In addition, they acquire a glossy shine. It is easy to experiment with such material, for example, twisting the leaves in a spiral or giving them a different shape.
Quick drying
Sometimes you need to perform this operation urgently. For example, when in the evening the child remembered that in the morning he needed a crafts to school from natural materials. But how to dry flowers quickly? You can use the microwave by scrolling the bud in it for half an hour. Or leave for an hour in the oven with the door ajar at a temperature of 60 ° C. This method is definitely quick. But the blanks thus obtained will be very fragile.
Songs
Having learned how to dry flowers, you can prepare suitable material for the season: buds, ears, leaves, twigs with berries, cane stalks and dried flowers. And then you can make original compositions. Such bouquets look beautiful in wicker baskets, wooden vases, clay pots. Dried flowers can be used in the design of wreaths and panels that will decorate the walls. Dry buds, tinted with gilded paint, will be the original decoration of the Christmas tree and New Year's table. Possibilities of application of the mass.
Tips for Preserving a Dry Bouquet
It is important not only to know how to properly dry the flowers, but also how to store them later so that they preserve their attractiveness for several years. Do not put the bouquet in a brightly lit place. When exposed to direct sunlight, the delicate petals are destroyed and crumble. It is important that the room is regularly ventilated. Dry air is contraindicated not only to living plants, but also to dried ones.
Dust is the main enemy of dried plants. Because of it, they lose the brightness of the colors. You can sprinkle the finished composition with hairspray - this will give fragile inflorescences rigidity and shine. Another option is to place the ikebana under a glass cover.
Flowers are a creation of nature, and ikebana from dried flowers is a creation of human hands.