Most people see floral bouquets as fleeting objects of beauty. As romantic as the notion of fleeting beauty sounds, the beauty of a floral arrangement can actually last forever, if you choose to dry and preserve its flowers. The traditional and most effective way to dry flowers is to gather and tie their stems to hang them upside down in a location out of the direct sunlight. This method is the best way to preserve a bouquet’s colors and shape. Unfortunately, it can take several days for flowers to dry using this method — even in Prescott’s relatively dry air. If you’d rather have your flowers dried and displayed quickly, you can use any of the following methods recommended by our experts at Allan’s Flowers.

Bouquet of Dried Roses

1. Oven

Flowers can be easily dried in the oven. Preheat to the lowest heat setting. Then arrange your flowers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper so that they’re not touching. While they bake, keep a close watch. Most blooms will need between eight and twelve hours to dry completely. We only recommend this technique on a cool day because you’ll need to leave the oven door cracked to allow moisture to evaporate.

Dried Peach Roses

2. Microwave

You can also dehydrate flowers in the microwave, but you’ll need some special supplies including a silica sand and a microwave-safe container that’s large enough to fit your flowers. First, trim flowers to size and remove any unwanted leaves. Arrange them in the container, ensuring they’re completely surrounded and covered by silica sand. Place them in the microwave with a cup of water and heat them in 30-second intervals, checking their progress after each blast. The time required will depend on the size and type of flowers which you’re drying, but most will need a total of two or three minutes.

Dried Pink Roses

3. Dehydrator

If you have a kitchen dehydrator that use you to make dried fruit or other treats, you can also use it to dry your flowers. Arrange flowers inside your dehydrator, ensuring none of them are overlapping, and set it to about 100-degrees. If you plan to press flowers after dehydrating, then you can remove them after a couple of hours. If you don’t plan on pressing your flowers, then they’ll need several hours in the dehydrator.

Bouquet of Dried Pressed Flowers

4. Trunk of Your Car

This method might sound a bit crazy, but it actually works incredibly well — especially with help from the Arizona sun. It’s best to dry flowers in the trunk of your car on day when you won’t be driving anywhere. You can either lay them out individually on a sheet of parchment paper or wrap them bouquet-style. Leave them in the trunk of your car throughout the day, and they should be ready by sundown.

The Prettiest Flowers to Preserve

Sunshine and Roses

While large blooms like roses and sunflowers aren’t easily pressed, they’re absolutely perfect for drying! Their vibrant colors will stay beautiful and by drying, rather than pressing, they’ll maintain their lovely, natural shapes. Other favorites for drying include statice, gerbera daisies, strawflowers, lavender, snapdragon, and thistle.

Bouquet of Dried Flowers in Glass Vase

For more flower drying tips and recommendations on the best bouquets to enjoy forever, we welcome you to stop by Allan’s Flowers. We have a wide selection of arrangements and blooms that absolutely perfect for preserving.