Whether you have a wedding bouquet you’d like to preserve or simply love the beauty of flowers, you can preserve flowers to continue enjoying them for years. You can either press or dry flowers to save them, but our florists at Casas Adobes Flower Shop recommend drying flowers because it not only preserves the beautiful colors of flowers, but also the varied shapes of their blooms. Plus, in Tucson’s arid air, dried flowers will last a very long time.

Bouquet of Dried Roses

The Simplest Ways to Dry Flowers

1. Air Dry

This is the best way to dry flowers because it leaves them looking sturdy and lively, even though they’re dry. To air dry flowers, gather them and tie their stems into a bunch with string. Then use the other end of the string to hang them upside from a stick, clothing hanger, or ceiling beam. Be sure they’re in a dry location and not in the path of direct sunlight, as this will fade their colors. They’ll need to hang for several days before they’re completely dry and ready to display.

Hanging Dried Flowers

2. Oven Dry

To speed up the process, you can dry your flowers in the oven. We recommend only doing this on a cool day because you’ll need to leave the oven door cracked open for the duration of the process (eight to twelve hours). Place flowers on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet and dry them with the lowest heat setting.

Dried Pink Roses

3. Microwave

With a microwave-safe container and silica sand, you can dry flowers in a matter of minutes. Trim the stems and remove any unwanted foliage. Then arrange flowers in the container and cover them completely with silica sand. Put a cup of water and the sand-covered flowers the microwave and heat in 30-second intervals. Most flowers will dry in two or three minutes.

Bouquet of Dried Flowers in Glass Vase

4. Trunk Dry

Although it sounds strange, in our sunny weather, you can also dry flowers in the trunk of your car, where they’ll be perfectly heated and safe from the sun. Pick a day when you don’t plan on driving anywhere to make sure your flowers will be safe. You can either lay flowers out on a sheet of parchment or wrap them up like a bouquet. Put them in the trunk in the morning, and they should be dry by sunset.

Dried Peach Roses

How to Display Dried Flowers in Your Home

There are an endless number of options when it comes to displaying dried flowers. You can simply dry a bouquet and then display it as it is in a pretty vase or pitcher, but you can also use the dried flowers to make other creations. One of our favorite uses for dried flowers is creating a floral wreath. By simply trimming the stems and attaching them to a wicker wreath base, you can create a beautiful decoration for your home from a bouquet from a special day in your life. Another option is to create a floral display inside a shadow box. This will not only look beautiful, but will also protect your flowers.

Magenta Skies

The best part of preserving a professionally designed floral arrangement is that all the blooms have already been selected to complement each other, which can take the guesswork out of selecting your own blooms. For more information about drying flowers or for help selecting the best floral arrangements to dry, we welcome you to stop by Casas Adobes Flower Shop any time.