How to dry the flowers correctly? Step-by-step instructions, recommendations and features

Flowers are a piece of heaven on earth. Their marvelous beauty is unique and unique. Each inflorescence charms, and it does not matter, a field blade of grass or a bud of an exotic plant. Bouquets adorn the house, please the eye, improve the mood. Especially if flowers are received as a gift from a person who is dear to the heart. But the life of cut bouquets is short. How to save a gentle gift for a longer period? Just! You can dry the bouquet, keeping it for a long memory. Before drying flowers, it is important to observe a few simple rules, so that the final result is pleased.

Suitable materials

Drying can be subjected to almost any flowers. But for each type of plant, certain conditions are required. Some perfectly dry in the air, others require sand, while others can be kept only under pressure. One thing remains the same: flowers can only be dried fresh. If the bouquet has been standing in the water for several days, it will not work. Buds simply fade, losing its attractiveness.

Collect flowers for drying in dry weather. It is better to do this after 11 o'clock in the afternoon, when the dew finally dried up, and the buds had time to unfold. For future dry bouquets it is necessary to choose plants without defects, such as dry tips, stains on petals and leaves. Flowers should be open, not fading.

If you want to save a bouquet bought in a flower pavilion, you should start this process immediately after purchase. After all, these flowers have already traveled quite a long way from the nursery, where they were grown, to the buyer.

Herbarium

The simplest and most common method of drying plants is press. Before drying the flowers for the herbarium, they need to be straightened, to give them the right shape. Volumetric flowers, such as peony, in this way not save, but you can separate the petals. For such drying, an old book or a stack of read newspapers is suitable. Between the sheets of paper, arrange the prepared plants, cover with a few layers of paper and press them on top with a press. The thicker the layer of paper, the faster the herbarium will be ready. Paper absorbs moisture released from plants. To speed up the process, you need to change the paper layers. Drying the herbarium occurs within a week, sometimes faster, depending on the humidity of the air and the thickness of the flower.

Finished products are flat, they are good for making panels, decorations with epoxy resin, postcards, candles and other decor items.

Hanging

To save the volume of flowers, such a method as the herbarium, will not work. To make voluminous compositions, drying can be applied in a suspended state. You can save cereals, wild flowers and some types of garden. This method is good for the queen of the rose garden, and for chamomiles, calendula, buttercups and other flowers.

Collected plants need to be cleaned from the lower leaves, make beautiful beams, forming a future composition. Cut the stems at one level. In one bundle one should collect plants of the same species and tie them with a thin string. You do not have to sever the stems much, otherwise they can break in the process, and the free air permeability will promote faster drying and preservation of the shape. If the branches are fluffy and bulky, then one can hang them individually.

In a well-ventilated dark room, pull the rope or wire and use it to hang the harvested bundles with pegs. In the drying process, the plants should not be exposed to direct sun rays, otherwise bright colors of delicate colors will fade.

It is important to protect them from dust and regularly ventilate. The procedure will last about two weeks depending on the type of plants.

This method is simple, does not require financial and time costs and is easily controlled. From the received beams it is possible to make beautiful compositions. It is good in this way to dry and twigs with berries.

Sand and cotton wool

To preserve the color and shape of the bud, you can place flowers in sand, silica powder or cotton wool. How to dry flowers using these materials? It is not difficult at all.

Unfortunately, in this way only buds are dried. Stems must be cut, leaving a maximum of 3 cm (for a rose to 8 cm). This way you can save almost any flower - tender lilies, bright gerberas, modest chamomiles and capricious peonies.

Sand must be prepared in advance. It should be clean (it is recommended to rinse), dry (can be calcined in the oven) and homogeneous (sift through a sieve).

At the bottom of the cardboard box, pour a layer of sand about 2 cm. Gently arrange the prepared buds so that they do not come in contact with each other. Camomiles and flowers similar to them should be laid with a bud down, but volumetric roses should be placed head up. To properly dry the flowers, keep the shape, you should gently sprinkle the buds with sand. You can pour it into a cellophane bag, the top of which is firmly tied. In the lower corner, make a small hole through which a fine trickle will pour out the sand, the layer of which should completely cover the buds and still cover a couple of centimeters for an even distribution of moisture. To accelerate the process, the filler can be preheated.

Place 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, slightly undermining the filler layer and checking the readiness. The finished flower is like a paper flower, and the petals do not break when touched. When the bud is ready, in the bottom of the box it is necessary to make a hole through which the contents pour out. From the buds, the stuck grains of sand can be shaken off.

If you are interested in how to dry flowers in the sand, you can apply the novelty of gardeners - silica gel. It can be purchased in stores for summer residents. The process of use is similar to that described above. Crystals can be applied repeatedly.

You can also use ordinary cotton wool. It perfectly absorbs moisture and retains the shape of delicate petals.

Paraffin method

Paraffin can save almost all the flowers. But this method is quite painstaking. Wax the paraffin. With a small brush dipped in hot liquid, treat each petal of the flower, making movements from the edge of the petal to the heart of the bud. Wait until the workpiece has dried. All!

Glycerin conservation

Any of the above methods deprives plants of moisture, makes them fragile. But how to dry a bunch of flowers and keep them elastic? The method is - preservation in glycerin.

You can tightly lay small buds and twigs in a beautiful transparent container and fill with glycerin solution, plug and leave in a conspicuous place. Ready-made art object is ready.

For ikebana use a slightly different approach. Pour out the solution consisting of one part of glycerin and two parts of hot water in the tray and put buds and leaves there. It is worth noting that the stems in this way can not be saved. Cover the tray from above so that all the plants are immersed in the working solution. After 3 days, the prepared blanks should be removed and wet with a dry cloth, removing excess moisture. Canned in this way, flowers and leaves retain color and elasticity. They can be used safely in composing compositions. In addition, they acquire a glossy sheen. With such material it is easy to experiment, for example, by twisting the leaves into a spiral or giving them a different shape.

Quick drying

Sometimes you need to perform this operation urgently. For example, when the child remembered in the evening, that by morning you need an odd job for school from natural materials. But how quickly to dry the flowers? You can use the microwave, scrolling the bud in it for half an hour. Or leave for an hour in the oven with the door slightly opened at a temperature of 60 ° C. This method is certainly fast. But the blanks obtained in this way will be very fragile.

Compositions

Learning how to dry flowers, you can prepare for the season suitable material: buds, ears, leaves, twigs with berries, stems of reeds and dried flowers. And then you can make original compositions. Beautifully look such bouquets in wicker baskets, wooden vases, clay pots. Dried flowers can be used in the decoration of wreaths and panels, which will become a decoration of the walls. Dry buds, tinted with gilded paint, will become the original decoration of the Christmas tree and New Year's table. Opportunities of application weight.

Tips for preserving a dry bouquet

It is important not only to know how to dry flowers properly, but also how to store them later, so that they save their attractiveness for several years. Do not put a bouquet in a brightly lit place. When direct sunlight hits, gentle petals are destroyed and scattered. It is important that the room is regularly ventilated. Dry air is contraindicated not only to live plants, but also dried.

Dust is the main enemy of dried plants. Because of it, they lose the brightness of colors. You can sprinkle the finished composition with hairspray - this will give brittle inflorescences of stiffness and luster. Another option is to place the ikebana under a glass cap.

Flowers - a creation of nature, and Ikebana from dried flowers - the creation of human hands.