Preserving Flowers

When you think of flowers, most people tend to think of ones in their fresh form. To me, one of the prettiest flower forms are in how they are preserved. Different techniques contribute to different attributes being reflected at their peak. There are different ways you can preserve flowers but I mainly want to focus on pressing in a book and drying the flowers by flipping.

When you want to preserve a few flowers whole or the whole bouquet you can flip the entire bundle upside down to keep them intact. You want to make sure you let them fully dry before flipping them back upright as to make sure the flowers do not droop. When you are drying them make sure you keep them out of direct sunlight. Sunlight will damper the colors. Once the flowers are dried, you do not want to keep them in a moist environment, so keep them inside and not in the bathroom. You also want to make sure you flip them for drying when they are still in good condition. The better condition, the prettier they will dry.

Once dried you can put the bouquet back into a vase or anything else you desire and it will last for years! To get dust off of the flowers just use a light blow dryer on cool to blow the dust off.

Another way you can preserve the flowers, and just petals, is be pressing. I use a heavy book and put leaves, petals, and sometimes full flowers into the middle. Make sure all the weight closes down on it or lay something on top of it. You still want it to get some air so it dries instead of molds but heavy enough to press them down fully.

Once they are fully dried you will have pressed flowers or leaves that you can then use to decorate with or use them to put back together a flower picture and hang it as art!

If you try one of these techniques - tag us on Instagram @ediwayfarms and show us your favorite flowers!