How to Dry Flowers in 5 Easy Steps
Looking for ways to preserve a special bouquet or flowers from your garden? Learn how to dry flowers in 5 easy steps.
Have you ever wanted to preserve a bridal bouquet, an anniversary arrangement, or flowers from the garden?
Drying flowers prolongs their aesthetics and nostalgia. Plus they make beautiful budget-friendly home decor that can be used in many DIY projects.
Did you know there are LOTS of flowers that you are probably growing that are easy to dry?
With all of these summer blooms, it’s a great time to harvest and preserve them.
Wait until you see how easy it is to do!
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Drying Flowers is New For Me
I love flowers. They make me happy.
Because I love flowers so much, I started growing them.
It started with one small garden, then progressed to so many more.
For years, I didn’t cut flowers from the garden because I thought they looked prettier in the borders.
I didn’t want to ruin the beds by snipping some to take inside. But I’ve been trying to change that mentality.
Because flowers are meant to be enjoyed both outside and inside our homes.
So I started a new cutting garden with the purpose of cutting the blooms.
Designating one of the beds as a cutting garden made it easier to grow flowers and harvest to bring inside.
As the garden blooms and changes throughout the season, I want to preserve some of my colorful blooms to use indoors.
Lately, I’ve been drying hydrangeas and tucking them in some vintage crates around my house. I love the pretty vintage blues and purple they add to my home decor.
Today, I want to preserve this gorgeous bouquet of orange roses to use in some vintage crocks with my fall decor.
Plus, I have some gorgeous dahlias that I’d love to keep around.
Whether it’s a beautiful wedding bouquet, corsage, or flowers from the garden, there are a few ways to dry flowers.
The best part?
It’s easy to do! And dried flowers can last a long time. So you can use them in different ways to decorate your home.
Air Dry Flowers Method
Since I prefer to do things the easy way, air drying flowers is the simplest, most budget-friendly way to dry flowers.
Supplies Needed to Air Dry Flowers
How to Air Dry Flowers
- Remove all of the leaves from the stems
- Group flowers together and tie them in small bunches
- Attach to a stick, hanger or drying rack
- Then hang to dry in a spot with minimal light for 3-4 weeks
- Spray with unscented hairspray to help them last
How do you dry flowers and keep their color?
If you want to keep the best color, cut flowers before they are fully open.
Tie and hang them upside down in a dry, but warm, dark spot. The more light it gets, the lighter the color retention.
I am going to hang these in my finished basement to complete the drying process.
Do dried flowers last forever?
While we can do our best to make them last, dried flowers don’t last forever.
You can do your best to extend their life, but I recommend replacing them when they don’t look as good.
When I got married, I kept my wedding bouquet for several years.
They looked really good for a long time, but over time they started looking shabby.
How long do dried flowers last?
In general, dried flowers roughly last about 1-3 years.
For best results, handle with the most care.
And try to keep them out of direct sunlight, wind, and humidity.
What are the best flowers to dry?
There’s a pretty big list, but I have successfully dried the following blooms.
- roses
- globe thistle
- hydrangeas
- strawflower
- yarrow
- sedum
- herbs
- celosia
- lavender
- ageratum
- russian sage
- salvia
I recently dried dahlias and they looked so pretty!
As an aside, I don’t dry hydrangeas like I do other flowers.
If you want to dry hydrangeas, this is the easiest way to do it.
What are dried flowers good for?
There are lots of great ways to use dried flowers in your home. Here are a few ideas:
- wreaths
- centerpieces
- arrangements
- potpourri
- candle-making projects
- gifts
- sachets
- baths
- cooking (some are edible in desserts or teas)
- home-made cleaning products
Should you spray dried flowers with hairspray?
To keep dried flowers in the best condition, hairspray can be applied to delicate dried flowers.
I recommend using it on wedding bouquets or corsages that have sentimental value to help them last longer.
Also, hairspray helps retain the shape better when moved around and prevents color fade over time.
Where can I buy dried flowers?
If you’d rather skip the step of drying flowers, there are a few retailers that sell gorgeous dried flowers as well as other boho home decor.
Here are some of my GREAT go-to sources for dried flowers.
If you want to make your own arrangements but don’t want to dry flowers yourself, these dried flowers are incredibly beautiful.
And there are so many options to choose from.
Where can I buy dried flower home decor?
To get the boho look without the work, check out these gorgeous pre-made options.
Looking for More Flower Garden Ideas?
If you love flowers and want to grow more in your garden, here are some posts that will get you on your way.
From tucking in flowering plants that are deer-resistant or ones that attract more butterflies and hummingbirds, to shade-loving flowers like the lenten rose, these posts will get you on your way to growing a garden that will bring joy for years to come.
Here are more cut flower and cottage garden growing tips, tricks, and design inspiration.
- 5 Quick Ways to Grow a Cottage Garden
- Why and How to Divide Perennials
- Perennials vs Annuals
- Flowers that Bloom in Midsummer
- How My Cottage Garden Grew in 2021
- Cut Flower Gardening for Beginners
- The Complete Guide to Roses Care
- The Basics of Hydrangea Care
- Everblooming Cottage Garden Design Ideas
- The Secret to Growing an Everblooming Cottage Garden
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