How to dry flowers
Advice on drying flowers at home, including the pros and cons of different drying techniques.
Drying your own flowers at home is simple and means you can enjoy their beauty for years to come. Dry them to make posies, arrangements, wreaths and garlands to decorate your home, or use dried flowers to make other beautiful decorations or home-made gifts. You can press flowers to use in picture frames, greetings cards or bookmarks, dry flowers for use in fragrant potpourri, bath or drawer sachets, use posies or single blooms to embellish gift-wrapped packages, and even make your own confetti. Why not preserve memories by drying flowers to keep them forever, from wedding bouquets, buttonholes, prom corsages, Valentine’s flowers, births, birthdays, or any special event?
Uncovered, dried flowers typically last for between one and three years. To preserve their colour, keep them out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources like stoves and radiators, and in an airy room with a dry atmosphere – so not in kitchens or bathrooms. Care for your dried flowers by removing dust and cobwebs using a feather duster, a soft brush or a hairdryer on a cool, low setting. Once the quality of your dried flowers starts to decline and blooms start to degrade, put them in the compost bin or your green waste collection.
Alternatively, you can preserve dried flowers forever by keeping them in a sealed container or preserving them in resin.
When to cut flowers for drying
Flowers for drying need to be cut in their prime, which is just as they’re coming into full bloom, ideally when the flowers are partly, but not fully, open. Choose dry weather for harvesting your flowers and wait until any dew or mist has dried off. The ideal container to use when gathering flowers is a trug or basket. These are wide and shallow with a flat, slightly curved base, so the flowers can be laid out in a way that keeps their shape and not become entangled. Otherwise, a plastic mesh basket, tray or crate will do the job adequately. Cut blooms with their stem, using a pair of sharp secateurs, snips, or gardening scissors.
Ways to dry flowers
The easiest way to dry your own flowers is to air dry them, which is simply letting flowers dry naturally in a cool airy spot. Pressing blooms to create dried, flattened flowers is another simple method of preserving many different types of bloom. How long it takes to dry flowers depends on how you dry them – air drying, pressing or using silica gel, take between one and four weeks. There are other ways to dry out flowers quickly if time is short, including using a source of heat from a microwave or an oven.
How to air dry flowers
You will need: flowers, secateurs, snips or scissors, string, clothes hangers or an airer
Time for drying: 2-4 weeks
Inspect each flower stem and remove any insects, blemished petals or florets, and strip off unwanted leaves. Tie the stems together in loose bunches of six to 10 stems, depending on flower size, and snip the stem ends so each bunch is the same length. Hang upside down, leaving a few centimetres between each bunch in a cool airy place out of direct sunlight and with a dry atmosphere (so not the kitchen or bathroom). This could be a spare room, a shed, or a garage. Drying time varies, depending on flower type and air temperature. Air drying is a simple low-input way to create lots of dried flowers to use in arrangements, garlands, and table decorations, as well as retaining the fragrance of perfumed ones to use in sachets and potpourri.
Many flowers suit air drying including hydrangea, lavender, Celosia, and Tanacetum.
How to press flowers
While many flowers can be dried by pressing, the best ones for this method have single blooms such as violas, primulas, zinnia, and periwinkle or vinca. Those with fleshy blooms aren’t suitable for pressing.
You will need: flowers, snips or scissors, thick absorbent paper (blotting paper or parchment is best but newspaper will do), several heavy books or a flower press
Time for drying: 1-4 weeks
Trim the flower stem to leave just the part you want to keep – this could be the head alone, with a short stem, or a sprig, depending on intended use. Flowers which form large heads, such as roses and peonies, are hard to dry in one piece, so select the smallest blooms possible. Alternatively, cut flowers in half, or break them apart completely and dry the petals individually.
Space out the flowers or petals on a layer of absorbent paper (or several layers, depending on the paper thickness) so there is at least 1cm between each one. Cover with another layer of paper. Either put the flowers in a bespoke flower press or sandwich them between several heavy books. Keep in a warm, dry place.
How to dry flowers in the microwave
Drying flowers in the microwave is the quickest drying method but does need care and attention as the blooms are easily spoilt. This method suits small flowers such as marigolds and daisy-type flowers, florets of hydrangeas, and the petals of roses.
You will need: flowers, secateurs, snips, or garden scissors, microwave, microwave safe trays or plates, kitchen paper.
Time for drying: 1-2 minutes
Prepare the flowers by taking the heads off intact and discarding the stems. Cover the trays or plates with kitchen paper and spread out the blooms, with a little space between each one. Separate out the petals of larger blooms such as roses. Using the microwave on its lowest setting, microwave the flowers in 30-second bursts, turning them so they dry evenly. Between each burst of power, check the flowers for burning and texture, and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before microwaving again.
How to dry flowers using an oven
Drying flowers in an oven is much faster than drying naturally (air drying) but has the downside of needing more effort.
You will need: an oven, flowers, secateurs, snips, or garden scissors, baking trays, parchment paper
Time for drying: 12-24 hours
Prepare the flowers by removing stems to keep the head only. Line the baking trays with parchment paper and spread out the blooms. Separate out the petals of larger blooms such as roses. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting and place the trays inside, leaving the oven door slightly open to allow moisture to escape. Keep the flowers in the oven for at least 12 hours, turning the petals occasionally so they dry evenly. Allow the flowers to cool and then place them in sealed glass or plastic containers.
How to dry flowers using silica gel
Silica gel crystals absorb moisture and are used in many ways – you may find silica gel pouches in purchases of new shoes or other items that need to be kept dry. Drying flowers using silica gel is a good way to preserve the colour and shape of elegant full-petalled flowers such as roses and Lisanthus.
You will need: flowers, secateurs, snips, or garden scissors, silica gel, wide plastic tub with lid, dust mask, protective gloves
Time for drying: 3-4 weeks
Prepare the flowers by trimming off stems just below the heads, handling them with care to avoid bruising the petals. Wearing gloves and a mask, pour a thin (2-3cm) layer of gel crystals into the plastic container. Place the flowers on the crystals in a single layer, so the blooms don’t touch one another. Carefully pour more silica gel crystals around the outside of the flowers to hold their shape, then pour a little inside each bloom. Continue alternating adding gel crystals between the outside and inside of the blooms until they're completely covered. Seal the container with its lid and leave in a cool place out of sunlight for three to four weeks. To extract the dried flowers, take off the lid and (wearing mask and gloves) tip out the gel crystals onto a tray. Take out the blooms one by one, turning them upside down and gently shaking out the remaining crystals.
Best flowers to dry
The best flowers to dry for use in vases, arrangements, wreaths and decorations are those which dry readily while keeping their shape and colour. These include lavender, hydrangea, gypsophila or baby’s breath, larkspur, globe thistle (Echinops), Anaphalis, and Achillea. The easiest blooms to dry are known as ‘everlastings’ as the flowers have a papery texture and need only a little air drying to complete the process. These include Craspedia, statice or sea lavender (Psyllostachys or Limonium), and Xerochrysum bracteatum.
Lavender
Lavender flowers are easy to preserve by air drying. After three to four weeks when the blooms have dried fully, either use the entire bloom and stem in arrangements or small bunches, or strip off the florets and use to make fragrant sachets or potpourri.
Hydrangea
The large, luxuriant, mop-headed blooms of hydrangea make superb cut flowers. Cut when most of the little florets that make up the flower head are open, cutting to give a stem about 23-30cm long. Stand the stems in a vase with a little water in the base and leave for several weeks until the water has all gone and the flowers start to dry out. Then, hang the stems upside down to air dry completely. To dry hydrangea flowers and keep their colour, it's essential that the whole process is done away from direct sun.
Roses
Roses need care to dry and keep as the blooms are large and fleshy. To preserve entire blooms and keep their colour, using silica gel is the best method. Air-drying stems of small-flowered roses can be done with reasonable success. Make dried rose petals using the microwave or oven.
Frequently asked questions
How do you dry flowers to keep them forever?
The best method for preserving dried flowers to keep them forever is to mount them in a sealed frame or container, or preserve them in resin. Uncovered dried flowers typically last for between one and three years.
How do you dry flowers and keep their colour?
To preserve the colour of dried flowers, keep them out of direct sunlight, away from heat sources like stoves and radiators, and in an airy room with a dry atmosphere – so not in kitchens or bathrooms.