While summer flowers are still colorful and perky, dry some for bouquets for those drab days of winter. It is an easy activity.
Collection:
• Harvest dry blossoms early in the day when the morning dew has dried.
• Collect an assortment for drying. Good candidates are buds as they begin to open, young blossoms and fully mature flowers before they senesce.
Air-dried:
Air-dry by hanging upside down flowers that are gathered as a bunch. Good candidates are lavender and goldenrod. Harvest by cutting flower stems desired length for displaying, as once the stems are dried, they become brittle and may disturb the floral parts. Remove leaves from stems before drying, again to avoid disturbing the stems once fully dry. Tie bunches with string, wrapping the string around the bunch several times to avoid cutting into the tissue. Hang upside down on hangers or rods in a warm spot but away from direct sun for several weeks. Restrain from handling bunches until fully dry.
Desiccants:
• Silica gel. Silica gel is fine grained and suited for delicate blossoms such as peonies and roses. Follow directions on the silica gel cans for optimum results. Blossoms dried in silica can be somewhat faded. One disadvantage to silica is that floral parts may be left with unwanted residue.
• Sand. Sand-dried blossoms tend to keep their vibrant colors and perky look. The kind of sand is important. Use children’s play sand, of which there are many sold under various labels and are available at home improvement centers. Wash and fully dry sand before using for drying flowers.
Process:
• Gather blossoms.
• Supplies needed: silica or sand, pruners, florist wires, boxes — wood or sturdy cardboard, realizing they are quite heavy once filled with sand.
• Label boxes with kinds of blossoms and collection date.
• If retaining vibrant color is the objective, then place in a warm, dark and dry spot, but if subdued colors are desired for the arrangement, then place in a cooler spot, which will take longer to dry.
• Length of time in the desiccant depends on temperature of the drying room, size and type of blossom, usually one to three weeks.
Uncovering:
• Uncover dried flowers by letting desiccant gradually flow freely from the box (save for reuse). Once uncovered, gently grasp flowers, moving them with the flow.
Arrange your bouquet and enjoy!
Some information from finegardening.com
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