Picking Flowers

First you need to learn which flowers dry well,
although there is no reason you can't attempt to save blooms
not tried before. The timing of harvests also is crucial--at
or just before peak bloom is best. Try, too, to collect
your flowers when the muggy days of summer have passed.
This assures that the picked flowers won't be full of excess moisture,
which might misshape them as they dry.
Immediately place the picked flowers in a drying medium,
before they have time to wilt. In the drying
space, keep the surrounding air dry, using a
dehumidifier is needed.

Drying Compounds

Flowers that dry easily on their own are called everlastings,
and have rich colors and rugged forms. Field grown
grasses, such as cloud grass, quaking grass, and animated oats,
fall in this category.

Everlastings dry just by hanging upside down, but many
other flowers need to be buried in a drying compound.
Initially, this compound was sand, applied gently.
later borax, a crystalline salt, became popular.
Today, the most used material is silica gel,
which is sugarlike in appearance.
(For drying foliage, glycerin is often used.) Between uses,
free the drying material of any accumulated moisture by setting
it out in the sun or under a heat lamp,
then store in a sealed can.

Dried Arrangements

Whether in informal or formal arrangements,
dried flowers excel.
But the care you take in arranging the flowers can enhance
their appearance considerably.
When making your arrangement, first insert foliage into a
container filled with florist's foam. Use the
foliage as a guide for floral heights.
(If flower and leaf stems are short, lengthen them
with florist's tape and wire.) Place larger and
darker flowers in the lower center. Fill in
with more flowers, making sure some extend below
the rim of the container.
Finally, keep your creation out of direct sunlight.

Read my Dreambook! Sign my Dreambook!