If you dry the rose correctly, you can extend the life of a gift bouquet or flowers growing in the garden. Dry roses can become an original interior decoration, while petals are used in cooking and cosmetology. One of the available drying methods is selected depending on the purpose.
It is important to remember that dried flowers are afraid of dampness and for safety they need to provide suitable conditions.
What roses are suitable for drying?
Do not try to dry a bouquet that has been standing in a vase for some time. Withering processes began as soon as the flowers were cut. Even if roses stand in water, the petals gradually lose turgor.
It is best to cut the flowers yourself, since it is not known how long the bouquet could be in the store.
- Cutting is carried out in dry weather.
- For drying, varieties of roses with dense petals are best suited.
- It’s worth picking those flowers whose buds have just begun to open. If you dry a fully bloomed flower, after drying, the bud will fall apart.
Methods for drying flowers
In order to fix the beauty of the flower, several drying methods are used.
Hanging
Drying roses in this way is necessary in a darkened ventilated area. It can be a pantry, an attic, a ventilated cellar. Flowers are hung on a rope with the buds down so that they do not touch each other. Lower leaves are better to tear off.
It is very important to maintain the necessary microclimate in the room (under the influence of moisture and sunlight, the petals will fade, begin to curl and crumble). In fact, nothing more needs to be done - just wait for the roses to dry.
The drying process should last 8-10 days.
Classic way
Using this method at home, roses are dried for herbarium:
- Flowers are laid between the pages of thick books, previously placed in a newspaper envelope so as not to spoil the publication dear to the heart.
- A load of suitable size is placed on top (you can use another massive book as a press).
- After 1.5–2 weeks, a dried flower is taken out. It will have a flat shape.
The method is well suited for drying individual rose petals. In this case, less time is needed - only 5-6 days.
Sand drying
This method is quite laborious, but has its advantages. After such drying, the buds retain a saturated color and initial volume:
- First you need to prepare the river sand: rinse, properly dry and sift.
- To dry roses in this way, you need a deep cardboard box. A layer of sand 5–7 centimeters thick is poured at its bottom.
- Then, flower stems are inserted into the sand cushion, placing the plants strictly vertically.
- After this, the box is completely filled with sand, pouring it carefully, in small portions, until the buds are completely hidden.
- The container is closed with a lid and stored in an upright position for about 3 weeks (17–20 days) in a dry room.
- After drying in the bottom of the box, small holes are made through which sand will slowly pour out.
After such drying, the roses will remain as similar to real flowers as possible.
What can be made from dried roses and petals?
If the roses were dried completely to further decorate the interior, it is recommended to apply hair spray on them before preparing the composition. This will give strength to dry flowers, help maintain the color of the petals. Then the roses are carefully gathered in a bouquet and put in a vase without water. A similar element of decor can decorate a living room, a veranda, a shady corner of the garden. A dry bouquet will definitely not fly around and will not fade after a few days.
Looks beautiful topiary of roses - an artificial decorative tree. It is made using the following technology:
- Wrap a thick wire with a tape of green or brown color, imitating a trunk.
- A special ball for the topiary is attached to the end of the stem.
- Top frame pasted with rosebuds. For convenience, it is better to use a glue gun.
- On the stem, you can arbitrarily place several dried leaves.
- The collected tree is placed in a small decorative pot and filled with alabaster, not reaching a few centimeters to the edge.
- After the material hardens, a layer of decorative pebbles or glass balls is laid flush with the surface of the pot.
Ready topiary is placed in any suitable place.
You can make a composition of dried buds, beautifully laid them out in a flat vase and placed on a coffee table, bar counter.
A more durable decor is obtained if you fill in an inflorescence with a transparent bottle of a beautiful shape, pour glycerin and clog it. This composition is not afraid of moisture, so it can be placed in the bathroom.
How else can you use dried flowers, besides decorating the interior?
Rose petals can be laid in sachets (aromatic pads), combining them with cloves, chamomile, fragrant herbs, added to tea to give it a delicate aroma, used to make jam and sauces. Rose water perfectly removes swelling, eliminates irritation and tones the skin.
How to make rose water?
50 g of dry rose petals are taken per 1 liter of hot water. Before use, the product should be infused in a thermos for 12 hours. The infusion of pink petals can be frozen and used in the form of ice cubes.
Roses are certainly good fresh. They delight the eye with exquisite beauty and fill the house with a delicate aroma. But even in dried form, these flowers can be beneficial and enjoyable. The main thing is not to spoil the buds by improper drying. Dry petals are used for interior decoration and in cooking, and cosmetics are prepared on their basis that help to maintain youthfulness and beauty of the skin.