Flowers are often associated with fleeting beauty, because they’re only in bloom for a short period of time. By drying flowers, however, you can preserve them in their most stunning state and enjoy their lovely blooms for years to come. To celebrate our love of flowers and their potential for lasting beauty, our florists at VanderSalm’s Flower Shop in Kalamazoo put together this handy how-to on drying flowers and making them last.

3 Simple Techniques for Drying Flowers

1. Air Dry

Air drying is the traditional method for drying flowers. It also produces the best results, creating vibrant, life-like dried bouquets. To air dry flowers, find a dry room away from direct sunlight where you will be able to hang your bouquet. Trim the leaves from all of your flowers and bind the stems together with string. Using the tail end of the string, hang your bloom upside down from a ceiling beam, hook, twig, or clothing hanger. It’s best the flowers are not pressed up against a wall. Leave them for several days before displaying.

Dried Flowers Hanging Upside Down

2. Oven Dry

Oven drying your flowers is much faster than hanging them to dry, but they won’t look quite as naturally since they’ll be drying with side against a flat baking sheet. Preheat your oven to its lowest setting and line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Arrange your flowers on the sheet so there’s no overlap, as this will cause the flowers to stick together. Let moisture escape by keeping the oven door cracked, while your flowers dry for eight to twelve hours.

Dried Pink Roses

3. Microwave

Using a microwave and some other supplies, you can dry flowers in just minutes. While this isn’t a great option, if you wish to keep your flowers’ long stems, it’s perfect if you plan to trim the stems anyway. First, find a microwave-safe container and silica sand. Trim the leaves and excess stems from your flowers. Cover them completely with silica sand in the container. Put them in the microwave with a cup of water and heat them in 30-second intervals. Flowers should be totally dry in just two or three minutes!

Trendy Autumn

Whichever technique you choose for drying your bouquet of flowers, remember that it’s essential your flowers dry completely. Any remaining moisture will cause the flowers to rot.

How to Keep Your Dried Flowers Looking Beautiful

Dried flowers are extremely delicate, so they do require some care and thought to be kept in good shape. When your flowers are first dried, and you’re sure all the moisture has escaped them, we recommend fortifying them with two or three coats of hairspray. This will strengthen their structures and help protect them from the elements.

Bouquet of Dried Roses

It’s important to be mindful of where you display your flowers, too. Keeping them out of direct sunlight will prevent their vibrant colors from fading. They should also be kept away from areas in your home that might have higher humidity than others due to a bathroom shower or a humidifier.

Lots of people who try to keep dried flowers complain about them gathering dust. While they might not seem like easy things to dust, you can clean them using a regular hairdryer. Set yours to its cold setting and turn it on to the lowest power. Then simply blow the dust away.

Bouquet of Dried Flowers in Glass Vase

For more flower drying tips and recommendations on the best mixed bouquets for drying, we welcome you to stop by VanderSalm’s Flower Shop any time.