How To Press And Dry Roses And Edelweiss Flowers

Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:44 pm

A fresh rose blossom is a special gift. It impresses with its noble shape and bright clear color. For good measure, it also has a beguiling fragrance. Unfortunately, it also has a disadvantage: far too quickly it wilts before our eyes. Sometimes, however, we want to keep them forever. Drying prolongs their existence, albeit in a different way.

Which varieties are suitable?

Edelweiss flowers are best suited for drying. The same applies to roses, whether only rose petals or whole bouquets are to be dried. All varieties from the huge rose family are suitable for this type of preservation. However, the flowers used should be fresh, intensely colored and, if possible, fragrant.

Harvesting roses

Flower stores sell several varieties of roses year-round. If you have rose bushes in your garden, you can help yourself to them to your heart’s content. However, there are time limits here. In our latitudes, the flowering time of this royal plant is limited by the prevailing climate to a few months a year.

Flowering time varies depending on the variety of rose

• first flowers appear as early as May
• flowering season ends in late autumn
• Blooming roses in the garden are an ornament that should be preserved as long as possible. Nevertheless, the time for harvesting should not be missed.

Harvest roses before the wilting stage

• do not use fallen leaves
• petals should still be attached to the plant
• do not pluck apart budding roses

Tip: A flower that is about three days into the blooming phase is ideal for drying.

Process cut flowers faster

Roses in bouquets wilt faster than rose blossoms that are still on the plant. Therefore, fresh roses should be admired in the vase for no more than two days, and then it is time for the drying process. Most flowers are still somewhat closed at the beginning. As soon as they open, they need to be dried. Depending on your preference with stem, individual flower heads or just the leaves.

Harvest edelweiss

In mountainous areas edelweiss has found a permanent home. If you encounter it while hiking, you are welcome to admire and photograph it. However, do not pick it! Because the edelweiss is a protected species. Blossoms for drying can provide us only those specimens that are cultivated in their own garden or bought in the garden center.

• you have to do without bright white blossoms
• cultivated varieties have slightly grayish coloration
• the abundance of flowers is also more modest in the garden
• in July the flowers have developed
• they can be harvested

Different drying methods

Whether rose or edelweiss, for the drying process itself plays a rather minor role. Depending on how many blossoms are to be dried and how the desired result is to be
is to look like, there are several possibilities available:

• Air drying
• Pressing between book pages
• Drying with drying salt, detergent or silica gel
• Drying in the oven
• Drying in the microwave

Air drying

Air drying is simple way to remove moisture from fresh roses and edelweiss, without greatly changing their shape. The individual steps are described in more detail below:

1. spread edelweiss, whole rose heads or rose leaves on absorbent kitchen paper or on a grid. The flowers or leaves should not touch or even overlap.
2. put the whole thing to dry in a place that offers plenty of heat. A boiler room is ideal.
3. if you use kitchen paper as a base, change it every three days or so. Or change the position of the flowers toward places that are still absorbent.
4. turn flowers and leaves over regularly so they can dry evenly from both sides.
5. gently shake out dried flowers. Sometimes small creepy-crawlies are still hiding in them, which now fall out when you shake them and take flight.

Tip: If the leaves still feel soft, there is still residual moisture in them. Let these leaves dry a bit more, otherwise mold can form.

Pressing between book pages

Pressing individual flowers has a long tradition. It involves placing a flower between the pages of a book and closing the book. The flower thus gradually loses moisture, but also its natural shape. To make pressing even more successful, the following tips should be followed.

• do not place the flower directly on the book pages
• cover with blotting paper or kitchen paper
• the moisture will be better absorbed
• the pages of the book will not get dirty
• the flower must be well positioned
• leaves must not lie on top of each other
• from time to time change the soaked kitchen paper

Thus dried flowers and leaves are perfectly flat. They are good for decorating letters and pictures.

Note: this method is not suitable for large rose heads. Plucked rose petals can be dried well in the book. Edelweiss flowers also lend themselves well to this pressing method because of their shape.

Dry salt, detergent and silica gel

Dry salt, dry detergent and silica gel have the common property of absorbing moisture. These agents also offer several advantages:

• drying is faster
• the original flower shape is preserved
• cause better shelf life
• Drying salt and silica gel can be used several times

To dry your roses or edelweiss flowers with one of these means:

1. choose a sufficiently large and screwable jar.
2. cover the bottom with drying salt, drying detergent or silica gel.
3. place the flowers on top.
4. fill up the jar with dry salt and co. If you dry several flowers in it at the same time, make sure that they do not touch each other.
5. close the jar and leave it like this for about four days.
6. Dry salt absorbs the color of the rose. When the salt and the flower have matched in tone, the drying process is complete. With the edelweiss, the effect is not as visible because of the plain grayish coloration.

Tip: Detergent is cheap and available in every household. It is the ideal agent for single flowers. Silica gel, on the other hand, is more expensive but can also be used several times. If you dry blossoms repeatedly, silica gel is recommended.

Drying in the oven

Drying rose petals in the oven is quick and inexpensive. Here’s how it works:

1. put a layer of sand on the baking tray.
2. spread the flowers or leaves on it. There should be enough space between them. 3.

Heat the oven to 40 degrees Celsius. 4.

Put the baking tray with the flowers in the oven for about 30 minutes. 5.

5. check if the flowers are completely dried. If not, extend their stay in the oven for a few minutes.

Gentle drying in the oven is not only simple to use, but the result is also impressive. The petals dried in this way have a decorative bulge and still smell almost like freshly picked.

Drying in the microwave

The fastest drying you can achieve with a microwave oven. Since it is now missing in virtually every household, there is hardly any cost associated with this type of drying. This is what you need for it:

• fresh roses or edelweiss flowers
• a microwave oven
• absorbent kitchen paper
• two microwaveable plates
• Here’s how drying in the microwave works:

1. cover a plate with kitchen paper.
2. spread the flowers on it with enough space between each.
3. place another layer of kitchen paper on top of the blossoms.
4. cover the whole thing with the second plate.
5. turn on the microwave. If the wattage is high, about 40 seconds is sufficient. If the wattage is lower, the microwave will take about 90 seconds.
6. take out the dried flowers.

Drying whole bouquets

Beautiful bouquets of roses can be dried as a whole. The roses should be fresh and the flowers only slightly open.

1. cut all the stems at an angle with a sharp knife.
2. place the bouquet in a vase with a mixture of equal parts water and glycerin.
3. remove the bouquet of roses from the vase after two days.
4. divide large bouquets into several small bundles, so that the drying also works well and evenly.
5. hang the bouquet in an airy, cool and dry place. No direct sunlight.
6. depending on the type of rose and the size of the flowers, the bouquet will remain in the hanging position for about 4 – 6 days.
7. after that you can put the bouquet in a vase without water. In it they will continue to dry for about three weeks.

Tip: You can get glycerine in any pharmacy without a prescription.

Shelf life

Dry roses have a long shelf life, but an extension of time is still welcome. Spray the dried flowers evenly with a hair spray or hair lacquer. The annoying spray smell will quickly fade and the natural rose scent will reappear. Gloss varnish passes its shine to the flowers. Repeat this procedure every few months. This will preserve the beauty of dry roses or edelweiss flowers for many years.