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Burying flowers for drying
The method for burying flowers in any of these materials is essentially the same. However, there are some differences in the types of containers to use, as well as drying with either natural stems or wire stems.
Containers. Flowers dried in borax mixtures should be left uncovered during the drying process. Therefore, low cardboard boxes with tight, strong bottoms are ideal. This allows good air movement throughout the mixture, and if desired, stems may be left attached and sticking out of the mix to air dry.
Flowers dried in silica gel must be placed in air-tight containers. If the containers are not sealed tightly, the silica gel absorbs moisture from the air, and flowers dry too slowly or not at all. Candy tins, plastic containers, coffee cans, large-mouth jars, or any other container with a tight fitting lid may be used. If nothing with a tight lid is available, seal loose tops with tape.
Use shallow containers to make maximum use of the drying material. The natural stem should be removed before drying most flowers in silica gel. Therefore, flowers wired before drying are more easily arranged later.
Wiring. Two techniques of wiring may be used — hook wiring and cross wiring. Hook wiring may be used for daisies, marigolds, zinnias, or other flowers with soft centers. Flowers with a harder base or center, such as roses, should be cross wired.
To hook wire a flower, use about a 20 to 24 gauge wire and push it upward through the center of the stem, if hollow, or through about the center of the flower. Push it out the top of the flower, bend a small hook in the end of the wire and pull it back into the flower, hooking the center. Make sure that the small hook is well hidden in the flower's center. If it is not, as the flower dries, it will become visible.
To cross wire a flower, push the wire through the base of the flower at right angles to the stem. The wire is centered in the flower base, and both ends are then bent down to form a short stem.
In shallow containers, the wires may be bent several times or simply bent out of the way for drying. Later, they can be straightened after the flowers have dried and other wires added to prepare them for arranging.
Types of flowers that may be dried in silica gel and the other materials are almost limitless. However, some are more satisfactory than others and are best for the beginner. Any flowers that readily shed their petals, such as poppies, are unsuitable.
Water-Drying: Believe it or not, some flowers dry well if placed in water! The stems of the flowers are initially placed in a couple of inches of water, then the water is allowed to evaporate and be taken up by the cut flowers. The container and flowers should be in a dry, warm and dark location. Hydrangeas, yarrow, bells-of-Ireland and celosia dry well with this method.
FOLIAGE
Dried foliage can seemingly last forever. There is a dried laurel Roman head-wreath at the British Museum that is over 2,000 years old! Foliage may be preserved like flowers by air-drying or burying the foliage in a desiccant; however, there are other methods more appropriate for foliage preservation.
Heat Pressing: Press with a warm iron. Placing the foliage between two pieces of waxed paper and pressing the wax paper with a medium hot iron easily preserves the flexibility and the fall colors of foliage. New pieces of waxed paper must by used for each pressing.
Glycerizing: Allow the stems to take up and translocate a glycerin/water mixture. This is ideal for magnolia and mistletoe. Mature leaves work best, but younger leaves can be preserved, too. Some ivies, mahonia, eucalyptus, boxwood, beech, camellia, oak and rhododendron also do well if allowed to absorb glycerin. Using mature leaves, mash the stem ends of each branch with a hammer and place the stems in a warm mixture of glycerin/water (1 glycerin: 2 water, by volumes). Branches of mature leaves should be no longer than 18 inches, including the part of the stripped stem that is in the container of glycerin/water. It is important to remember that the cut branches will take up the glycerin/water mixture, so more of the mixture must be added to the container to replace that which has been taken up. Keep the solution depth at about 6 inches. After crushing the stems, some hobbyists place the plant material in a salt solution (1 tablespoon table salt/ gallon water) for 24 hours before placing them in the glycerin solution, reporting that this increases the uptake rate of the glycerin solution. If younger leaves are used however, they should be submerged completely in a 1:1 glycerin/water solution (vol./vol.), then washed once done.
You’ll know the process is complete when the entire leaf turns golden brown. It may take two to three weeks before all the foliage is done. The leaves remain flexible, and wreaths made from glycerized magnolia leaves can remain beautiful for many years. Glycerin can be obtained from your local pharmacist. Unfortunately, it is not cheap. Request the technical grade of glycerin; it is less expensive than the laboratory grade.
In addition to their use in dried arrangements, dried foliage on floral picks make excellent wreaths..
MICROWAVE DRYING
Flowers with thick petals, such as magnolia and hyacinth, do not dry well in a microwave. For microwave drying, select flowers just before they are fully opened. Fully opened flowers will often lose their petals after microwave drying. Foliage dries exceptionally well in a microwave oven.
During drying, the flowers must be supported so that they dry in their normal form. A borax/sand mixture or kitty litter will do, but silica gel works best. Cover the flower(s) as described above under desiccants. Use a setting of 4 (that’s about 300 watts) if the microwave oven has about 10 settings. If the microwave oven has a defrost setting, use that (about 200 watts). It takes about two and a half minutes to dry flowers in a half-pound of silica gel.
The best way to determine the length of time required is to employ a microwavable thermometer, which contains no metal. Place the thermometer into the silica gel about a half-inch from the covered plant material. Make sure that you can read the thermometer from outside the oven. When the temperature of the silica gel reaches about 160º F, it is done! You do not have to be concerned about the strength of the oven (its setting) or the length of time to have it on. Actually, some flowers need to be heated to 170 ºF, others to only 150 ºF, but these are exceptions. For most, it is 160 ºF.
When the container of dried flowers or foliage is removed from the microwave oven, place a lid (slightly cracked) on it, and allow it to sit for about 24 hours before carefully uncovering the flowers.
In alphabetical order, the following are just a few of the flowers that can be dried successfully in a microwave: African daisy (Gerbera), African marigold, astilbe, buttercup, chrysanthemum, cosmos, daffodil, daylily, delphinium, foxglove, goldenrod, hollyhock, hydrangea, larkspur, lilac, pansy, rose, sedum, tulip, witch hazel and zinnia.
Storing your dried flowers
Once you are done with drying your flowers, you will want to store them so you can use them whenever you want them. A good way is wrapping the flowers in newspaper and placing them in a cardboard box. Do not store the box containing the dried flowers where it is unusually damp (some basements) or very dry (some attics). Also, a lot of people think you should never store dried flowers outside (it would be way to cold). This is simply not true. Temperatures are not important. In fact, a garage can be an ideal place for storing dried flowers. Actually, if your home is heated by forced air, the preferred place to store dried flowers would be in a outside building away from the dry heat.
Word of caution: if you do store your dried flowers outside, make sure you protect them from small rodents and insects (a few mothballs will work).
Care of Dried Flowers
Routine dusting can be accomplished using a real feather duster or hair blow dryer on it’s lowest setting. In general, dried flowers should remain out of direct sunlight while you enjoy them in their final state. This will minimize fading over time. Do not place dried flowers in the path of forced air heat registers. Extremely dry air is very hard on dried flower structure (causes shattering). With the correct care your dried flowers will last for years.
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 Resources: Excerpted from “Food For Thought Series” by Arlene Wright-Correll
For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/ and click on Arlene’s Books you can download or buy my gardening & cook books. All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and we thank you for your attention to this site.
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