Drying Flowers Materials:
flowers
string, wire or rubber bands
Tip:
The key to success is drying the flowers quickly by creating a hot, well-ventilated environment, and then removing the humidity in the drying process. Do this by opening the window or garage door everyday to let the moist air out.
Steps:
- Remove the leaves on the stems and divide the flowers into small bunches of about five or six. Fasten them together with string, wire or rubber band. Hang them but don't let the flower heads touch each other--give them room for air to circulate around each bloom and each bunch.
- Drying times depend on the chosen flowers and how hot the room is. If it's warm enough, it should take less than a week for roses to dry (a rose is completely dried when the round bulb below the bloom is hard). Other less dense flower varieties (like larkspur) take about three days to dry. These varieties are dried when they become brittle and crispy.
Potted Arrangement
Materials:
candle
2 dozen wooden floral pics with wire
dry floral foam
6" clay pot
5 bunches dried flowers and foliage (purple larkspur, straw flower, yellow and red roses, red chili peppers, purple statice, nigella,sunflowers, banksia proteas , etc.)
green sphagnum moss or Spanish moss
Steps:
- Cut floral foam to fill the pot, making sure it extends about 1-1/2 inches above the rim. Set the candle in the center of the foam.
- Trim all the dried flowers and foliage to a length of four to five inches. Make small bouquets (about five stems each) of individual flower varieties. Wrap the wire on the floral pic around stems to secure them.
- Start just above the rim of the pot and push the bouquets into the dry foam , one on each quarter. Insert four more bouquets just below the candle on the top of the dry foam. Fill in the spaces between with more bouquets.
- Hide unsightly foam with green moss.
Instant Swag
Materials:
4-5 varieties of dried flowers/foliage
rubber band
raffia or ribbon
Steps:
- Arrange the chosen elements in descending order on a table.
- Place the items on top of each other (shortest on top), making sure to line up the stems.
- Secure the swag with a rubber band and hide it with raffia.
Resources California Cut Flower Commission
California Cut Flower Commission
Watsonville, CA
USA
Phone: 831-728-7333
E-mail:
ccfc@ccfc.org
Website:
www.ccfc.org
Guests Jill Slater
Floral Designer
California Cut Flower Commission and the Flower Promotion Organization
Atherton, CA
E-mail:
jslater@pacbell.net or
E-mail:
sjsslater@yahoo.com
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