Drying Roses – How to Dry Your Home Roses

Roses are such beautiful gifts. They are the prettiest things in our homes at times. They are flawless, bright and colorful and simply perfect in many ways. Unfortunately, however, the rose will eventually die.

Let the splendor and beauty of the rose live on when you dry them. Drying your roses is a great way to preserve their beauty much longer. You can create an exquisite look when you put together an arrangement of dried roses.

Air drying and sand drying are two common ways to dry your roses. Air drying is easier and only requires a good pair of shears, some wire, a coat hanger and a dark location. After you cut the rose, get as close to the head of the rose as you can. You can then insert a piece of wire about 6 – 8 inches long into the rose head.

Hang the rose upside down so that the end of the wire can be wrapped around the bottom of the hanger. You will want to make sure it is securely wrapped. Make sure to leave some space between each rose head to encourage air circulation. Place the hanger in a dark area like an unused closet since it will take 1-3 weeks to be fully dried. You can hang your roses in bunches upside from a nail as well, leaving the stems intact and removing the bottom leaves. Keep the stems together with an elastic band.

Drying your roses with the sand technique takes more effort, but is well worth it. You should cut the rose while at its peak and cut the stem so that one inch remains. Make sure the leaves and stem are dry. Place the wire into the stem and up into the head of the flower. Find a deep open box filled with white-colored sand and put the rose into it until it can stand upright in the sand.

From there, carefully add more sand around the base and under and over each of the petals. You want to try to use the sand to maintain the shape of the rose. Continue doing this until the flower is completely covered. Take the sand box with the rose and place it in a drying area and leave it there for 1-3 weeks. Be very careful when removing the dried roses from the sand. You will want to slowly tip the box to empty the sand and grab each rose as it becomes free from the sand until all of the buds are sand-free.

Roses can also be dried using a number of other techniques, including wax, glycerin or a desiccant, but these procedures require a lot more technique. You can also place a rose between the pages of a book as a drying method, but your rose will be smashed flat when it’s finished drying.

Dried roses are a great way to make decorative wreaths, potpourri, confetti, wedding bouquets, framed artwork decorations and so much more.

         

Care of Roses - Rose Gardening Tips