Bouquets for your house can have new life if you give the flowers a good conditioning treatment before they are arranged.
A chemical preservative in the water frequently produces cut flowers that last longer than if left to grow in the garden.
Techniques for drying fresh cutting material from the garden have been so improved in recent years that now it is possible to permanently preserve flowers and foliage in their original shapes and colors.
Methods To Preserve Flowers
Some are natural everlastings that are dried simply by hanging in an airy place. Others require drying agents, which remove moisture from the petals, leaving good color, form, and texture.
Conditioning
Conditioning is the method of flower treatment between cutting and arranging. To succeed with fresh and dried bouquets, choose quality blooms from well-established plants, selecting partially opened blooms and buds in various advancements.
These will finish opening in your water container or drying medium. Pre-planned uses of your garden material before cutting will prevent waste.
Use a sharp knife or pruning shears to do the cutting. Check your other arrangement material (holders, containers) for cleanliness; bacterial water growth is much less problematic if you keep accessories clean.
When To Cut Flowers
Proper cutting time is important, preferably at sundown, so blossoms may condition overnight in water. Cuttings may also be taken in the early morning, but plan on water conditioning for several hours before arranging.
Plants contain the greatest amount of moisture at these times when little transpiration takes place. Take a container in the garden filled with fresh water at about 110° degrees Fahrenheit so flowers may be immersed immediately.
Select long-stemmed blossoms and branches. Make a slanting cut to allow the angular ends greater exposure. This increases water intake. Remove leaves that decay rapidly in water and otherwise lessen conditioning success.
Additional foliage for your arrangement needs may be conditioned separately—place cuttings with a water level high on the stem, allowing ample standing room to keep blooms shapely.
After conditioning, re-cut stems in the same manner an inch above the first cutting, more if necessary for your arrangement design.
Different Treatments
Plants requiring different treatments exude a milky substance from their stems —poppies, dahlias, canterbury bells, and lantanas are a few.
The searing stem ends with a candle or stove flame, or placing stems in 2” inches of boiling water for 30 seconds will prevent fluid loss.
Protect upper portions with paper wrapping. Remember, when you re-cut these stems later, they will need additional treatment. Woody branches (lilac, mock-orange, forsythia) benefit if stem ends are split several inches before conditioning vertically.
A commercial water conditioner such as Floralife will furnish chemical nutrients and bacterial suppressants to cut flowers.
Using table salt (one tablespoon per quart of water) increases water absorption for achillea, begonia, coreopsis, althaea, marigold, gaillardia, and snapdragon.
Sugar (one tablespoon per quart water) which acts as a nutrient, prolongs the life of aster, sweet pen, petunia, verbena, nigella, mum, and gaillardia.
Ways To Preserve Flowers
Here are six tips to help fresh flowers retain their garden qualities after the arrangement:
- Keep out of drafty areas and away from fans.
- Change the water every day.
- Keep away from direct sunlight and heat.
- Maintain a cool, humid atmosphere when possible by setting the container on the floor at night or in the basement when you’re away.
- Provide good air circulation.
- Re-cut stem ends of woody plant material.
Drying flowers by varied methods can produce fascinating results, besides the fun of going on excursions to collect plant material all year round.
Midsummer is a good time to start with the abundant flora this season offers from our roadsides, fields, woods, swamps, and seashores.
There you’ll find a limitless selection of leaves, pods, grasses, grains, mosses, lichens, nuts, and berries. Of course, you’ll want to complete your collection with homegrown blossoms.
The drying principle is rapid moisture removal from the plant to preserve color and form. Cut material to be dried on a bright sunny day in the mid-afternoon.
Preserving flowers by hanging is a simple and effective method with sturdy plant material. Remove leaves, group stems into small bunches, and secure them with rubber bands. Tie several branches on coat hangers keeping stems straight and flower heads down.
Hang in a dry, dark place with good air circulation—perhaps in the attic. Flower heads will be stiff and stem brittle in approximately eight to ten days. Store upright in cans or jars until ready for use.
Garden flowers dry well by hanging are globe amaranth, blue salvia, achillea, celosia, statice, hydrangea, artemisia, and gypsophila (baby’s-breath).
Most wildflowers, herbs, and farm material dry successfully with this method — goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, thyme, lavender, wheat, oats, and corn tassels.
A New Way To Dry Flowers
Drying flowers using chemical preservatives is used for more delicate plant material where a faster drying process is necessary to retain color and prevent general deterioration.
Many successful drying substances can be used alone or combined with others, such as borax, fine-grained sand, unionized salt, cornmeal, or powdered pumice.
A good commercial drying agent containing silica gel produces excellent results. It is called Flower Dri. These products may be reused after a brief drying-out period.
Cut twice as many blooms as you plan on using to avoid disappointments in shattered flowers.
Remove leaves. Choose large drying containers of cardboard, plastic, wood, or metal. Line with wax paper and pour drying agent to a depth of 1 ½” inches.
Strong, thick-stemmed flowers can usually be dried without removing stems. However, leaving a short stem for easier handling is more satisfactory. Florist wire may be taped to lengthen the stem later.
Thin-stemmed flowers need to be wired before drying. Cut stern to 1” inch and insert a wire into the stem tube, gently pushing through the calyx and inner petal portion. Make a small bend in the wire tip and ease back reversely to conceal the wire bend within the flower head.
Flower Placement Position
The position of the flower placement will depend on the nature of the bloom. For example, large-headed blossoms can be placed with the flower head up in a drying container.
If these are wired, push the wire through the bottom of the box (a cardboard container), allowing the bloom to rest on top of the drying layer.
Generally, large-headed blooms possess strong stems which do not need pre-wiring. Instead, take a handful of drying agents and gently pour between the petals, adjusting the bloom to a natural position.
Cover adequately, being careful of over-covering, as the weight of the drying material may deform your flowers. Pre-treat with a clear plastic spray on the underside folds for blossoms whose petals detach easily (rose, chrysanthemum).
Flat-headed flowers may be dried in a head-down position, covered with a drying agent, leaving stems or wires protruding upward.
Stalklike flowers are placed horizontally on the drying layer. Store all blossom types without a box covering in a dry place.
Don’t Over-Dry Flowers
Depending on flower type and air humidity, drying time will be from four to ten days. Large thick flowers take longer than small thin ones. Test by inserting a finger in drying media and gently feel for petal stiffness.
Overdrying will cause fading and brittleness. When dry, lift the flower, shake off stubborn particles, or use a soft brush—to store blooms in a covered, tissue-lined box in single layers.
Wired flowers are placed blossom up with wire bent just below the bloom horizontally. Wired flowers to be used immediately can be angularly placed in a Styrofoam half ball.
Most dried arrangements will be enhanced by combining flowers with foliage and leaves. Pressing is a good method for this. Place branches or stems between several layers of newspaper, adjusting leaves in desired positions.
Large quantities of foliage may be layered by alternating paper and plant material. This process will take about a month. Perma-Dip is a good commercial product for preserving cut foliage.
44659 by Marilyn Schweder