Drying flowers: tips on how to press flowers, hang drying & more

Dried flowers are a gorgeous and timeless part of home décor, but they can also be used as botanical specimens or in crafts and soap. Whilst many shops offer pre-dried flower bouquets or pressed flowers, drying flowers yourself is quite easy to do.

A dried flower bouquet is a beautiful and long-lasting alternative to its fresh counterpart and adds style, colour and texture to your indoor spaces. Read on to discover how to dry flowers at home, from pressed flowers to air drying and more.

The best flowers for drying

In principle, all flowers can be dried. However, some will dry more easily than others. Those which naturally have a lower moisture content will obviously dry faster, but some flowers will retain their structure better than others. The following flowers work very well for drying:

• Roses (Rosa)
• Pansies (Viola × wittrockiana)
• Physalis (Physalis peruviana)
• Curry plant (Helichrysum italicum)
• Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus)
• Hydrangeas (Hydrangea)
• Lavender (Lavandula)
• Daisies (Leucanthemum)
• Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
• Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Tip: flowers are not the only thing you can dry. Decorative seed heads, fruits, foliage and even twigs make beautiful, whimsical dried objects that you can add to your dried flower bouquets.

When harvesting your flowers for drying, it is best to do so in the late morning, once the leaves are no longer moist with dew. The flowers should either be in bud and poised to bloom, or only just open. If the flowers have been in bloom for too long, they will simply drop their petals whilst drying. When harvesting, use a clean, sharp knife or pair of scissors to avoid damaging the plant.

Tip: if collecting wild flowers, make sure to collect responsibly by following the ‘one-in-twenty rule’. This means that for every 20 flowers you find, you should only be picking one. This ensures the flower population – as well as the wildlife which depends on these flowers – is left undisturbed.

How to dry flowers

There are various ways of drying flowers. If you have a little patience, hanging flowers to air dry is a simple and effective method for stems and bunches. This method is especially suitable for creating a dried flower bouquet. Pressing flowers in books gives you flattened blossoms which are great for use in crafts or if you want to frame botanical specimens. We also cover how to dry flowers quickly, and provide instructions on drying flowers in the microwave or oven. Whilst such methods are convenient, the resulting dried flowers may be of lesser quality. Keep reading to discover some of the different methods for drying flowers, presented as simple step-by-step guides for you to follow at home.

Pressing flowers in books

Pressing flowers in books is a wonderful method of creating flattened, dried flower specimens for you to use in many ways. Pressed flowers can be framed, used in crafts or mounted for use in a herbarium. Pansies and daisies work particularly well as pressed flowers, but you can also experiment with a great range of different plants using this method.

Materials for pressing flowers in books:

• A book
• Newspaper
• A few more books or weighted items

How to press flowers in a book:

1. Open the book roughly in the middle.
2. Line the opened book with the newspaper.
3. Place your flower on the newspaper, ensuring the flower head is laid as flat as possible.
4. Close the book and stack a few more books, or some weights, on top. Leave in a warm location.
5. Check the pressed flowers after one week. Depending on the flower and its moisture content, it may take up to two or three weeks for the flowers to dry completely.

Tip: for larger blossoms and those with a high moisture content, add a layer of kitchen towel to absorb moisture. This will help to prevent mould from growing on the drying flowers.

Hang drying flowers

Air drying flowers is an extremely simple method, most suitable for drying either individual stems or bunches. Here, how well the flowers dry depends on where they are being left to dry. The ideal location is a dark, well-ventilated room. Sunlight will cause the blossoms to lose their colour, so a darker room will ensure your dried flowers arrangements are beautiful and vibrant.

Time: depending on the flower and conditions, drying flowers this way can take anything from two to six weeks. Dried roses will take around three weeks, whilst daisies and lavender might take just one to two weeks. Larger bouquets bunched together will take longer to dry and may become mouldy as moisture is unable to evaporate freely. To create a dried flower bouquet, it is best to dry the flowers separately and to create the arrangements once dried.

Materials for hang drying flowers:

• Elastic band or string
• Paper clips (optional)

How to dry flowers by hanging:

1. Remove any foliage from the stems as well as any excess moisture.
2. Gather the flower stems into small bundles and tie tightly together. The stems will shrink as they lose moisture, so an elastic band is suitable as it will continue to hold the stems together tightly throughout the drying process.
3. Hang the bunches upside down from a hook or washing line. You can use a paper clip here if hanging your bunches on a washing line.
4. Ensure the bundles are well spaced to allow good air circulation for the drying flowers.
5. Check the bundles after one or two weeks. The drying process is complete once the stems are brittle enough to snap.

Tip: wondering how to dry rose petals? Making dried rose petals is quick and easy. They can be used in herbal teas, as decorative additions to soaps or to add fragrance to baths. They are also a classic for adding a little romance on Valentine’s Day. To dry rose petals, simply pluck the petals from your newly opened, fresh rose bud. Lay the individual petals on kitchen paper or a mesh screen and leave in a dark, dry location, protected from a breeze or draft. After about one week, your dried rose petals will be ready to use.

Drying flowers with silica gel

Using a drying agent such as silica gel will speed up the process of drying flowers. Silica gel absorbs moisture from the blossoms, which makes drying flowers faster. The resulting dried flowers will also have retained their colour and vibrancy. Drying flowers with silica gel is best for individual flower heads or petals.

Time: 2 to 6 days

Materials for drying flowers with silica gel:

• Silica gel
• Sealable container

How to dry flowers with silica gel:

1. Pour a 3 – 4 cm deep layer of silica gel into the bottom of a sealable container.
2. Lay the flower heads on top of the silica gel, ensuring the flowers are sitting upright.
3. Gently pour the remaining silica gel over the top until the blossoms are completely covered.
4. Seal the container and wait 2 – 6 days to allow the flowers to dry completely.

Once you have dried your flowers, the silica gel beads can be heated in the oven for re-use. Silica gel will come with its own reactivating instructions; however, most will require around an hour at 120 – 135 °C.

Tip: other drying agents include Epsom salts, which can be used as a substitute for silica gel. Drying flowers with salts takes a little longer than with silica gel. After around one to two weeks, the flowers should be dry and ready to use.

Drying flowers in the oven or microwave

This method of drying flowers is the fastest but also the most precarious. If the temperature is too high, the flowers may dry too quickly, causing them to shrink. It is also possible to burn the flowers using this method. A dehydrator is a good alternative to using an oven, as they are specifically designed to gently dry plants, especially flowers and herbs. When using a microwave, remember to use a low setting.

Time: a few minutes in the microwave and up to two hours in the oven.

How to dry flowers in the microwave:

1. Follow the above instructions (1 – 3) for drying flowers with silica gel.
2. Place the container of silica gel and flower heads in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on the lowest setting.
3. Allow the container to cool for 10 to 20 minutes after removing from the microwave.

How to dry flowers in the oven:

1. Heat oven to 35 – 40 °C.
2. Lay flower heads or stems on a mesh or tight grid drying rack. If you have a fan oven, secure the flowers in place using wire for flower heads, or simply thread the stem through the mesh.
3. Place in the oven. You can also leave the door slightly ajar to create a gentler drying climate.
4. Check the flowers regularly, especially if you are drying various species (which may require different drying times) at the same time.
5. The drying flowers can take from just a few minutes to 2 hours to dry completely, depending on the flower’s water content.

Water-drying flowers

It may seem counter-intuitive, but in some cases, water is used as part of the drying process. This method is suitable for sturdy stemmed flowers such as hydrangeas. In order to produce beautiful, dried hydrangeas that hold their shape and colour, the water-drying method is the best option. To do this, start by harvesting your hydrangeas in the late summer or early autumn, just as the petals begin to change colour.

Time: 2 to 3 weeks

Materials for dried hydrangeas:

• Vase with water

How to dry hydrangeas:

1. Place your fresh hydrangeas in a vase half-filled with water.
2. Place the vase in a location away from direct sunlight.
3. Leave until the water has evaporated, by which time your dried hydrangeas should be ready.

How long do dried flowers last?

With the right care, dried flowers can last for up to a year. Keeping flowers away from direct sunlight will help to prevent fading. Dusting your dried flower arrangements will also help to keep them in good condition.

Herbs such as sage (Salvia), basil (Ocimum basilicum) and nasturtium (Trapaeolum) can also be dried.