A Guide to Dried Flowers

Make Your Favorite Flowers Last Forever

Nothing compares to the fresh scents and gentle textures of a freshly picked, artfully arranged bouquet. At the same time, when you have a particularly memorable floral gift – say, an anniversary gift, a Prom corsage, or flowers that memorialize a loved one – it is sometimes worth finding a way to preserve flowers and hold onto a special memory forever. 

While it is possible to dry and preserve just about any flower, some flowers keep more beautifully than others. Flowers with tightly held petals and a small calyx – the green petal structure at the base of a bud – are the best for drying. Baby’s breath, delphinium, eucalyptus, hydrangea, lavender, Queen Anne’s lace, miniature roses, and sunflowers are just a few examples of optimal flowers to dry. 

For the best results, keep long stems when you select the flowers you want to dry. Remember, you don’t need to dry every flower in a bouquet! Pick a few of the best-drying blooms, and the result will be better. Be sure to remove any green leaves and other foliage from the stems you wish to dry. Bundle a small selection of stems – 10 to 12 works well – and secure them with a rubber band or a string of twine. Hang the bundle upside-down in a dry, dark space. Garages and closets work well as long as they get plenty of airflow. A bathroom without windows is another option. Wait 14 to 20 days, and your flowers will dry completely. 

Flowers that dry out upright in a vase will not have the same well-kept appearance as those that dry upside down. Also, be aware that some dried flowers will lose a bit of color as they dry – but this depends on the flower. Many flowers retain strong hues even when they are dried out. 

Another fun way to preserve flowers is to press them into a book or between two panes of glass. Pressed flowers should not be dried before pressing – they need to be as fresh as possible. Flowers that are still shaped as buds work especially well for pressing. Be sure that your flowers are dry and do not have any external moisture or dew. You can use blotting paper to pull out any excess moisture. When you have the stem length you like and are ready to press your flowers, you can either use a heavy book or an iron. To press flowers in a book, place them in a heavy book, close it tightly, and leave them there for three to four weeks to dry out. Avoid using a special book, as the flowers may leave color or residue on the pages. For faster results, you can press flowers with an iron. Place flowers between two sheets of paper and press a warm, dry iron on top of the upper sheet for a few seconds. 

Are you giving flowers for a special occasion and want to be sure that your bouquet can be preserved into the future? Consider an arrangement that centers roses and hydrangeas, such as Allen’s Flower Garden. The vibrant sunflowers and indigo delphinium of our Cubic Sunflowers bouquet are both very amenable to drying. Many of the gorgeous flowers in our stunning Belmont Shore Summer arrangement would preserve marvelously – including the lavender and fern flourishes. 

At Allen’s Flower Market, we are proud to be a family-owned business. We have been helping the Long Beach and Los Angeles community celebrate memorable, life-changing moments for decades. We respect our customers’ busy lives, and we offer fast, easy delivery to accommodate your schedule.