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The tradition of drying flowers for decorative arrangements dates back centuries, but with modern techniques and contemporary designs it has been gaining a new popularity. Today, a wide selection of ready-dried flowers is available for purchase, usually by the bunch, and there are also many different fresh flowers that can be dried without any difficulty.
Until relatively recently there were three principal ways of drying flowers – air, microwave and desiccant, but the latest method is freeze-drying. This technique, originally developed for storing penicillin and blood plasma during the Second World War, is a commercial process, requiring expensive, specialised freezers, and it can take up to two weeks to complete. Individual flowers and bouquets dried by this method will reputedly last at least five years and, unlike other drying methods, will maintain the original colour of the blooms and even their perfume.
The most common drying method, and by far the cheapest, is air-drying and this involves nothing more than merely hanging the stems upside-down in loose bunches or standing them up straight in wide containers in a warm, dry, and well-ventilated room. This technique is most suitable for grasses, seed heads, thistles, and those flowers with dense masses of petals or florets. Room temperature should not be allowed to fall below 50º F/10ºC, and it should be noted that any humidity in the atmosphere would inhibit the drying process.
Apart from grasses and seed heads, foliage does not generally dry well, but many flowers can be air dried very successfully. Most flowers are best air dried at the middle of their development. For instance, Delphinium should be dried when most of the florets are open, but hose at the top are still in coloured bud. Rose buds may be aired dried, but those that are fully open will only be successfully preserved by the desiccant method.
Air-dried flowers are much more fragile than fresh ones and need very careful handling. The stems are often brittle and are best supported in florist's foam. Contemporary designs avoid trying to replicate the shapes that fresh flowers make and are usually displayed as tightly packed flower heads in-groups of one flower variety. This gives impact to the usually faded colour and avoids showing much stem or foliage.
Microwave drying suits many of the air-dried flowers too, but it is limited to those with shorter stems, since they must fit on the radius of the microwave turntable. Stems should be laid in a line, alternating flower heads top-to-tail or in wheel, with the flower heads facing out. The microwave needs to be checked approximately every minute, as the flowers will vary in the drying time they need, depending on the variety and its stage of development. Once dried, short stems may be lengthened by mounting them on florist's wire.
Desiccant drying works by drawing the moisture out of the fresh material. Alum or borax can be purchased from hardware stores, although they are only really suitable for small or white flowers, as the powder is difficult to remove. Silica gel crystals, however, available from pharmacies, are suitable. A half-inch layer of finely ground desiccant should be placed in the base of an airtight container. The flowers should be laid on this, face up, and covered very gently with sifted desiccant until every part of the flower is covered. The container must then be sealed and left at room temperature. Drying by this method can take between 7 and 10 days, but may be speeded up using a microwave.
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