How to Preserve Flowers, According to Professional Florists

Do you love the look of flowers in your home but wish you could enjoy them for more than a few days? Rather than letting fresh flowers fade and die out, there are so many ways to preserve them and keep them in your home for years to come, such as pressing, hanging, and drying them in silica gel. Keep reading for all the most effective preservation methods for your flowers and the best ways to decorate with them, complete with expert advice from professional florists.

Easy Ways to Preserve Flowers

Common ways to preserve fresh flowers include hanging them upside-down, pressing them between the pages of a heavy book, drying them under a layer of silica gel, or dipping them in paraffin wax. More permanent methods include sealing them in epoxy resin or having them professionally freeze-dried.

Section 1 of 11:

Hanging Flowers

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Hang your flowers upside-down to air-dry them. “If there are any drops of water inside, it's going to pull that water out of the petals rather than have it all sit inside the head of the flower and rot, so that's why drying upside down is important, explains florist Pilar Zuniga.^{[1]
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Pilar Zuniga
Florist

Expert Interview} Flower shop owner Lana Starr, AIFD, adds that this method is best for bulkier flowers with heavy petals and sturdy stems, like roses, peonies, and hydrangeas.^{[2]
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Lana Starr, AIFD
Flower Shop Owner

Expert Interview} Here’s how to do it:
- First, remove any foliage from the stems that you don’t want to dry, and cut them to the length you want.
- Tie the stems together with string. Zuniga recommends staggering the heads, so they aren’t all on the same level.^{[3]
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  Pilar Zuniga
  Florist
  
  Expert Interview} If you’re drying large flowers like peonies or hydrangeas, leave each bloom separate, rather than bundling them.
- Hang the flowers upside-down in a cool, dark place with good air circulation, like a basement, closet, or pantry.
- Let your flowers dry for 3-4 weeks.
- Note: Keep in mind that your dried flowers won’t look exactly the same as they did when they were fresh. According to Starr, you should expect your flowers to shrink a bit in size, and their colors will also appear more faded. If you want your dried flowers to be more vibrant, she recommends starting with very brightly colored fresh flowers.^{[4]
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  Lana Starr, AIFD
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Meet the wikiHow Experts

Pilar Zuniga is a floral designer and the owner of Gorgeous and Green, a floral design studio in Oakland, California, with a focus on being earth-friendly and supporting local growers.

Lana Starr, AIFD, is a certified floral designer with over 14 years of experience and the owner of Dream Flowers, a floral design studio in the San Francisco Bay area.

Jeanne Walker is a florist and the owner of Fringe Flower Company, a floral design shop that specializes in weddings, special events, and daily deliveries.

Section 2 of 11:

Pressing Flowers

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Press your flowers inside of a book for some vintage charm. Pressing flowers inside a heavy book squeezes all the moisture out of them, so they maintain their color. This method works best for individual flower petals or flat-faced blooms, like violets, daisies, pansies, and zinnias. In other words, “Anything that doesn’t have a big, bulbous center to it,” explains florist Jeanne Walker. “Those press really well and keep their original form because there’s not a lot that you have to crush down and mash together.”^{[5]
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Jeanne Walker
Florist

Expert Interview}
- Cut each flower’s stem to the desired length so it’s short enough to fit the whole flower inside the book.
- Sandwich the flowers between 2 sheets of newspaper, tissues, cardboard, or coffee filters. Avoid paper towels, since the patterns could imprint on the flowers.
- Open an old heavy book, like a dictionary or encyclopedia, and place your flowers and paper between the pages.
- Close the book and place 2–3 more books on top of it.
- Leave your flowers for 2–4 weeks to fully press and dry them. If the paper covering the flowers becomes saturated before they’re done drying, replace the sheets.

Section 3 of 11:

Drying Flowers in Silica Gel or Fine Sand

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Dry your flowers under silica gel or fine sand to preserve their shape. Silica gel is a small granular material that easily absorbs water from your flowers.^{[6]
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Research source} This process works best for flowers that have large blooms or multiple petals, like violets, roses, tulips, dahlias, and mums, since drying them any other way could cause the blooms to shrivel.^{[7]
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- Fill the bottom of a container with 1 in (2.5 cm) of silica gel or fine sand.
- Cut the flower stem so it’s 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) long, and stick it in the middle of the silica gel or sand. If the flower is flat, put it face down. If the flower is more round, keep it face-up.
- Pour more silica gel or sand around the perimeter of the container, and tap the edges lightly so it fills in around the flower. Add more gel or sand until it completely covers the flower petals by about 1 in (2.5 cm).
- Leave your flower buried in the silica gel for about 1 week before carefully removing it. If you’re using sand, leave the flower for 2–3 weeks instead.^{[8]
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Section 4 of 11:

Drying Flowers in the Microwave

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Heat your flowers in the microwave to dry them out quickly. If you’re in a rush to preserve your flowers, your microwave can quickly draw out all the moisture from your flowers. Since the blooms will flatten after you microwave them, this works best for individual petals or flat-faced flowers like daisies.^{[9]
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University of Missouri Extension
University of Missouri program dedicated to research-based, practical public education

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- Sandwich your flowers flat between non-patterned paper towels or coffee filters.
- Place your flowers in your microwave. Set a heavy, microwave-safe dish on top of your flowers to weigh them down.
- Run your microwave on low or the defrost setting for 1 minute.
- Check if your flower feels dry to the touch. If not, run your microwave in 30-second increments until they’re done, which should take 1–4 minutes total.

Section 5 of 11:

Dipping Flowers in Paraffin Wax

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Dip your flowers in paraffin wax to extend their life for weeks or months. If you want fresh blooms to keep looking great a few months after cutting them, dipping flowers in wax is the perfect temporary solution. Wax works great for flowers that die out within a few days of cutting, such as camellias, since the wax forms a protective layer around the petals. It may take a few tries to get a smooth finish on the wax, but your flowers will look amazing when you’re finished!^{[10]
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- Heat 5 pounds (2.3 kg) of paraffin wax and 1 ⁄2 US pt (710 ml) of mineral oil in a large wok until it’s 138 °F (59 °C).
- Drag the fresh-cut flower through the wax in a single, smooth motion.
- Plunge the flower into ice water and stand it upright to dry completely.

Section 6 of 11:

Soaking Flowers in a Glycerin Solution

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Soak your flowers in a water and glycerin solution to dry them out. When you soak flowers in glycerin, the solution gets absorbed into the stems, so they stay flexible. That way, you’re able to bend the stems or branches if you want to make a flower wreath or garland. Glycerin works best for flowers with mature leaves, like magnolia, mistletoe, boxwood, camellia, and rhododendron.^{[11]
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- Mash the ends of the stems with a hammer.
- Place the stems in a mixture that’s 1 part glycerin and 2 parts water.
- Leave your flowers in the glycerin solution for 2–3 weeks, or until all the foliage turns golden-brown. Refill the solution if your flowers absorb it all.

Section 7 of 11:

Sealing Flowers in Epoxy Resin

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Seal dried flowers in an epoxy resin mold to turn them into keepsakes. Epoxy resin dries clear, allowing you to preserve your beautiful bloom inside. This is the most permanent way to preserve your flowers, so it’s a great method if you want a lasting keepsake. Any flower looks great when you use epoxy resin, but they need to be dried out beforehand, so use any of the above methods to dry out your flowers first, then move onto these steps to seal them in epoxy:^{[12]
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- Wear a face mask and gloves while you’re working.
- Combine the epoxy resin in a small cup with a stir stick or toothpick, following the mixing directions on the package.
- Pour ⁄2 in (1.3 cm) of resin into a mold that’s the shape you want.
- Arrange the dried flowers in the resin. If you'd like, add some additional flourishes like beads and sequins to the resin.
- Pour another layer of resin to completely cover the flower and fill up the mold.
- Pop any air bubbles in the resin and between petals using a toothpick.
- Let the resin cure for 24–48 hours. After that, the resin will feel hard and will easily pop out of the mold.

Section 8 of 11:

Getting Flowers Professionally Freeze-Dried

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When you freeze-dry flowers, they sit in a refrigerated chamber with a temperature just below freezing. After that, all the air is removed from the chamber, and the moisture inside the flowers turns into a gas. When your flowers are warmed back up to room temp, they’ll be dried and ready to display. Since the process is difficult to do on your own and requires expensive equipment, contact a local florist to see if they’re able to freeze-dry the blooms for you.^{[13]
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Section 9 of 11:

Best Times to Preserve Flowers

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Cut flowers you want to preserve right before they fully open. If you are cutting fresh flowers to dry them, wait until just before they’re in peak bloom. That way, they’ll dry out better and hold their bright, vibrant colors instead of fading.^{[14]
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- Since flowers bloom at different times throughout the year, harvest and dry multiple flowers throughout the growing season to have a variety of blooms to decorate with.
- In general, Starr says fall and summer blooms tend to hold up the best in the drying/preserving process. “Spring flowers unfortunately have very thin petals, and eventually the petals will fall off or become paper-like and very thin, so they will not hold on to the stems when they dry out,” she explains.^{[15]
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  Lana Starr, AIFD
  Flower Shop Owner
  
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If you’re saving a bouquet, try to start the preservation process immediately to help retain the flowers’ shapes and colors. If you can’t start preserving your flowers right away, keep them in water and inside your fridge for a few days until you’re able to.^{[16]
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Electronic database of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences's peer-reviewed articles

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Section 10 of 11:

How do I make preserved flowers last?

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After drying out your flowers, spray the flowers with any unscented hairspray you have at home. The spray will help the blooms retain their shape and prevent them from dropping petals.^{[17]
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Keep preserved flowers out of direct sunlight to prevent fading. “It's important to not have sun on the flowers because the sun will just leech out all the color, unless you're looking for that look,” explains Zuniga.^{[18]
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Pilar Zuniga
Florist

Expert Interview} Sunlight may also cause your dried flowers to crumble. To keep your flowers or bouquet looking bright and beautiful, store your flowers in a shady spot.^{[19]
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- Avoid keeping dried flowers in humid areas of your home as well, since moisture could reabsorb into the foliage.

Section 11 of 11:

Decorating with Preserved Flowers

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Create a dried bouquet with a decorative vase. Choose your favorite vase and arrange your flowers into a bouquet. Try combining flowers and foliage that have complementary colors, or use a variety of blooms with different textures and colors to make your bouquet really pop. Keep your dried bouquet at the center of your dining room table or on a living room coffee table.^{[20]
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- Put floral netting inside of the vase to help keep the stems separated and easier to move around.
- Since you dried the flowers, you don’t have to worry about watering your bouquet or the blooms wilting.
If you’d like to add a classic flourish to your living room, place any flowers that you dried and flattened inside of your favorite picture frame. Arrange multiple flowers to make an eye-catching design before securing the back to the frames. Place the framed flowers on a shelf, display them on your mantle, or hang them on the wall.^{[21]
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If you choose to preserve your flowers in resin, you have a plethora of options when it comes to decorating with them. Leave the flowers in resin on a desk to use as a paperweight, or try displaying them proudly on a wall shelf or hanging them on your wall with a nail. If you want to show off your preserved flowers, then use the resin as a charm on a necklace or pair of earrings for the world to see.^{[22]
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Expert Q&A

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Question

How do you preserve flowers and keep their color?

Lana Starr, AIFD
Certified Floral Designer & Owner, Dream Flowers
Lana Starr is a Certified Floral Designer and the Owner of Dream Flowers, a floral design studio based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dream Flowers specializes in events, weddings, celebrations, and corporate events. Lana has over 14 years of experience in the floral industry and her work has been featured in floral books and magazines such as International Floral Art, Fusion Flowers, Florist Review, and Nacre. Lana is a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) since 2016 and is a California Certified Floral Designer (CCF) since 2012.

Lana Starr, AIFD

Certified Floral Designer & Owner, Dream Flowers

Expert Answer

When dried, flowers will lose a little bit of their color and will also shrink. Keep this in mind as you choose flowers to preserve, as they'll be smaller and less vibrant than they are when fresh.

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What is a fast way to preserve flowers?

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One of my favorite ways to keep my flowers fresh and looking lovely is to simply spray them with a little bit of hairspray. Also, try adding a sugar cube or a spoon full sugar to your water. The flower will use this as food. If you have a little bit of any clear soda with sugar left at the bottom of your bottle, add this to your vase with water. Like the sugar, the flowers will use the sugar in the soda as food.

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What is a way to preserve flowers without any chemicals?

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Drying the flowers upside down or pressing them is a natural way to preserve flowers, though you should be warned that the effect is generally considered less pleasing than using chemicals. Using sand is another method that uses no chemicals.

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