Date: Fri 25-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-10

Quick Words:

Preserving-Flowers-Bleach

Full Text:

Suburban Gardener: Preserving The Flowers of Summer

By Anthony C. Bleach

Twenty years after working in Lesotho, the farewell gift of a plate-sized ring

of dried and platted Achillea flowers still glows with the radiance of

sunflowers. There they cut them from the veldt in mid-morning, after the dew

had dried. The bottom leaves were pulled off, the flowers were tied into small

bunches and hung upside down in the darkness of a rondavel, cool, clay-floored

and straw-roofed.

The climate in Lesotho is as arid as Arizona, and so mildew was unknown. Here

your attic needs to be well ventilated if you want to dry flowers using this

method.

Everyone knows you can do it in a microwave, but it was only this morning that

I found an article by Joan Lee Faust the explained the technology so lucidly.

The joy given by zinnias, marigolds, strawflowers and black-eyed Susans can be

saved in just a few minutes.

For best results, cut flowers are placed in granules of silica gel, sold under

such brand names as Flower-Dri. When dry, silica gel crystals are blue. As

they absorb moisture from flowers they turn pink. The crystals can be used

again and again, simply by reheating to dry them out.

The best flowers to dry by this method are those with sturdy stems and petals

like asters, chrysanthemums, carnations and roses. Geraniums, gladioli and

impatiens with thinner petals are brittle and ephemeral.

You will want to test-dry a flower of two. The choice of flower color is also

important. Since drying tends to mute colors, choose whites, golds, oranges,

soft blues and pinks. With roses, best results are found with the whites and

golds. Red, violet or pink roses tend to turn a muddy brown when dry.

Flowers will have stems only about half an inch long because they must lie

flat, face up, on the silica gel crystals. After drying, artificial stems are

made by inserting thin florist wires into each flower crown. The wire is then

covered with green florist tape.

For drying, cut the flowers in late morning, after the dew has dried. Since

only a few can be dried at a time, choose the most perfect, preferably those

half-open. They drying will open them up fully.

Next, fill containers deep enough with silica gel so that each flower can be

covered. Lay each flower on top, and separate petals stuck together.

Carefully cover each flower completely. This is necessary for even drying,

especially for the many-petalled rose, geranium or daisy. The position of each

flower as it is placed on the silica gel will be its form when dried. Leave

the containers uncovered.

Before turning on high power for one to two minutes, place a cup of water in

the corner of the oven. Some flowers may need up to five minutes.

Remove the containers and let them cool for half an hour, then pour off the

crystals, gently. If you try to lift the flowers, they will break. Flick off

crystals with a small paint brush and lay the flowers on a raised cake rack to

dry. If the flowers are still limp, do not zap them again, but leave them to

harden overnight.

A bouquet of dried flowers in winter brightens the grey days and can also

recall the summer like an airline ticket to romantic places.

(Anthony C. Bleach teaches biology, and coordinates the horticulture

certificate and degree programs at Naugatuck Valley Community-Technical

College.)