How to Preserve Flowers and Store Them to Last

With Valentine’s – and Galentine’s – Days right around the corner, many folks are wondering how to preserve flowers in order to make the beautiful blooms they receive last longer than a week or two. If you’re in that group (or just looking for cost-effective ways to decorate your home with the beauty of nature), keep scrolling for our tips for preserving flowers. We’ll walk you through the best preservation methods, along with some advice on which flowers to choose and how to store your arrangements to last.

Tips for Preserving Flowers

Tip 1: Pick your method.

There are three classic methods of preserving flowers: drying them, preserving them in resin, and pressing them in a book. You can scale up or down the effort involved in any of them depending on personal preference.

Pressing, preserving or drying flowers (naturally or in the microwave) is all relatively low-cost and high-reward regardless of which method you choose. Our advice? Try them each out. You’ll find that certain methods work better for certain foliage and blooms – and likely for your intended uses as well.  

Drying Flowers

Air drying is the easiest and quickest way to save your stems. Simply remove excess foliage leaving about 6 to 8 inches of stem, secure stems together with a rubber band in bundles of 8 to 10 and hang them upside down for two to three weeks in a dark and dry area with a fair amount of airflow. Of course, you can hang individual stems as well as arrangements.

According to the botanic experts at Almanac, the ideal type of flowers for air drying include delphinium, baby’s breath, astilbe, eucalyptus, ferns, roses, lavender, and larkspur. Air drying is also the best choice for any flower with a big, 3D bloom (like hydrangea or fan palms).

Once you’re satisfied with their look and feel, take them down and keep them warm, completely dry, and out of direct sunlight. You should also lightly mist them with hairspray or acrylic spray to help protect them from dust and decay.

Short on Time?

If you don’t have two to three weeks to air dry flowers, you can shortcut the process by using a microwave. If you go this route, Better Homes & Gardens advises you’ll have the best luck with a microwave flower press kit. But if spending $60 on a one-use tool isn’t up your alley, you can DIY the method with two ceramic tiles and a rubber band. Alternatively, you can place fresh flowers in silica gel (available most craft stores), and then nuke them anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Wait 24 hours, brush off the silica gel, and voila! 3D flowers that will stay fabulous for months.

Pressing Fresh Flowers

Another easy (but slow) way to preserve flowers is to press them in a heavy book. You can either put the flowers in between a few layers of wax paper, parchment paper, or printer paper and let sit with a weight on top or place the blooms individually in paper between pages and then put additional books on top of the book itself. If you choose the latter method, be sure to keep at least 1/2 an inch between pressings within the book.

Check in on your drying flowers in a week or so to see if the paper needs replacing. Then wait an additional week or two (or however long it takes for the flowers to completely dry) and reveal the final product.

Preserving Flowers in Resin

If you choose to preserve flowers in resin, you’ll find it’s an easy way to make an artful – and impactful – gift, artwork, or piece of jewelry. The experts at Martha Stewart advise wearing protective gear and using casting resin rather than epoxy resin. You’ll also need silicone molds, dried or fake flowers, and other decorative elements, tweezers, and a heat gun to blast away pesky air bubbles.

Once you have your elements in place, mix the resin with the included hardener slowly, and then pour the resin into a silicon mold. Use tweezers to arrange the botanicals to your liking within the mold, and then place in a safe place. Though resin cure time varies, it will likely take at least 48 hours to completely solidify. Once it’s hardened, gently remove your piece and sand down any sharp parts.      

Tip 2: Choosing the Best Flowers for Preservation

We mentioned above that air drying works great with delphinium, baby’s breath, roses, and more flowers with intricate shapes. When it comes to microwaving blooms in silica gel, however, you’ll want to choose ones with simple structures and petals (think daisy) – at least until you’ve got some experience under your belt.

Regardless of how you choose to dry them, always start with fresh, healthy flowers just beginning to open. These will give you the best, most long-lasting colors and structural stability.

Tip 3: How to Store Dried Flowers

If you’re planning on storing your blooms, first dust them off with compressed air. Next, place them in a sealed (but breathable) container in climate-controlled storage, or some other area with consistent humidity and temperature. Typically, you’ll want to avoid cellars, attics and detached garages or sheds as the varying climate can wreak havoc on delicate pieces. In fact, preserved florals are known to “weep” color from their stems if exposed to too much humidity. (If this happens to yours, seal the stems with a bit of hot glue.)

If moths or other pesky insects are a concern, botanical experts recommend adding a cedar block to the container. You can also put a dehumidifying bag in for good measure. 

Once you learn how to preserve and dry your flowers – and your preferred techniques to do so – you’ll be well on your way to imbuing your home with key elements of biophilic design. Display this precious flora in vases or containers away from direct sunlight to enjoy their beauty for years to come.