How to Dry Fresh Roses

One way to preserve the beauty of flowers is to simply dry them out. For fresh roses, the two simplest methods include air-drying and sand-drying.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pruning Shears
• Florist's Wire
• Clothes Hanger
• Cardboard Box
• Newspaper
• Dry, Fine, White Sand

1. Dry Your Roses And Maintain Their Beauty!
   By drying out flowers you can maintain their beauty even after the growing season is over. There are two easy methods and techniques that can be followed in order to dry out your fresh roses.

2. Air-Drying!
   
   To air-dry your roses you will need a set of pruning shears, some florist' s wire, and a clothes hanger. You want to cut the roses on a sunny day after all the condensation has fully evaporated to avoid spotting on the petals. Choose the roses that are younger looking and have not fully opened or have partially opened. You will want to remove all the leaves from the rose, trimming it 1 inch from the bud. Make sure all the buds/blossoms are free of condensation before they are hung. Take a few of the blossoms and place them in a paper bag with salt. You want to gently shake the bag a few times to coat the buds; this process helps the rose retain it's color. Using florist wire, hang the rose buds upside down from the clothes hanger. You want to ensure that there is space for proper air circulation. Let them dry 1-3 weeks depending on the weather and humidity in your home. Once air-dry you can spray them with flower preservative to help the maintain their shape and color.

3. Sand-Drying!
   
   The sand-drying process is a bit more time consuming, but it also yields great results. Start by preparing the roses as if you were going to air dry them. You want to make sure that they are free of condensation and remove the petals. You want to run a piece of florist' s wire up to the head of each flower. You want to take a cardboard box and cut a few holes in the bottom, lining the box with newspaper. With the box lined with newspaper you can now fill it with dry white sand. You will then stick the flower upright into the sand, filling the box until the flower is well covered. The sand will help draw the condensation from the flower and help it maintain proper form. Let the flowers set in the sand for 3 weeks.

4. Remove The Roses From The Sand!
   
   You want to remove the flowers from the sand by poking holes in the bottom of the box, letting the sand drain out. Do not try to pull the rose out, you will damage the delicate petals.

5. In Conclusion!
   
   By drying flowers you will have the ability to enjoy their beauty year round. They are great additions to arrangements and are inexpensive to make yourself.

Tips & Warnings

• Let the flowers dry for 3 weeks.
• Flowers are fragile, watch removing them from the sand because they can be easily broken.

Resources

• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide

[starlet67]

on 6/8/2009 Great details for preserving roses! Pretty title photo!5*

[forlanda]

on 6/7/2009 Interesting. Good presentation and instructions; easy enough to remember. Thanks.

[ginamichellesat]

on 6/3/2009 Love these ideas!! ty! 5 star and recommended!

[kimarkent]

on 6/3/2009 Drying fresh roses is relevant to me at this moment!! I wanted to preserve the beauty somehow..I knew about air-drying but not sand-drying! Cool concept. 5* and recommended!

[athome]

on 6/3/2009 Dried fresh roses are beautiful, thanks 5*