How to Preserve Your Flowers to Last Forever

If you don’t have much time for gardening, perennials are a great way to beautify your home. They’re low-maintenance and can add joy to your exterior garden beds or sunny windowsills. However, most of these easy-grow flowers only last a few weeks to a few months before dying.

You can keep your investment in your beloved blooms by taking steps to preserve them. 

Preserving your flowers can make them last virtually forever, but some methods are better than others. 

We compiled a list of the best ways to keep your flowers.

Pressing 

Pressing is great for filling a shadowbox, book or other accessories with flat flowers. 

Place you flowers between two smooth surfaces and put heavy objects on top to compress them. 

The pressure dehydrates the flowers by drawing the water out of them. It also preserves them flat, keeping the look you loved in a compact item. The method works best for small flowers since larger ones take more pressure and are difficult to compress evenly. 

Air Drying

Air drying is a “set it and forget it” way of preserving your flowers. This method is particularly good for bouquets or arrangements you want to keep intact, as this technique has no size limits. 

Find a dark, dry environment and hang your blooms upside down, so they set as close to a natural position as possible. They should dry nicely as long as the location doesn’t get mich humidity. 

Roses, tulip and other flowers with vertical petals are best for this technique since their less likely to come apart upside down. 

Microwaving

You can keep your flowers looking brighter by “cooking” them in the microwave. It’s one of the fastest methods to dry flowers without them wilting. 

Place your flowers in a bowl with a drying medium, like cat litter or silica gel. Ensure the flowers are covered in the substance before warming them for a few minutes. It’s best to check on them throughout the microwaving process to avoid wilts and burns. 

Heating the drying medium in the microwave accelerates the preservation of the flowers. It’s best for individual flowers and helps keep their color and structure. 

You can dry them in the same substances without a microwave, but it will take a few weeks. 

Glycerin Soaking 

Soaking your flowers in glycerin is an excellent way to keep them looking fresh. 

Lay your flowers in glycerin and let them absorb it to replace the water inside of them. This keeps your flowers from looking flat or wilted. 

This method works best for individual flowers. You can often find glycerin at drugs stores or online. 

Setting in Resin

If you’re on social media, you’ve likely come across beautiful pieces of resin artwork. You can make your own with your flowers. 

This is a two-step process, as the resin doesn’t preserve your blooms but will protect them. You will need to dry your flowers before adding to the resin. 

Pick a mold of your choosing and fill it halfway with the resin. Then, place your flowers upside-down inside until you get the desired arrangement. Fill the remaining mold with more resin and let it harden.

Once its hard and dry, carefully remove the art piece from the mold for an awesome display. 

Making Your Flowers Last

Whether your flowers are sentimental or you want to up the value of your investment, flower preservation is a great way to keep beauty around you all year long. 

Using these methods, you can keep your flowers looking fresh and use them uniquely.