Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1962-08-22
Tips On
Drying Flowers
BY: YVONNE BENNETT
Assistant County Homo
Economics Agent

/ PNoPhN W wv"
as the predominating color II,
the dried flower arrangements,
but one can have lovely yell
lows, oranges, green's. blues.
reds, puppies. grays. whites
and blacks. Even the same
flowers gathered a few days a.
part will give different textures
and colors.
Cultivated and wild flowers.
grasses, SccdpOdS. berries.
leaves. unusual branches. cones.
cypress knees. and drift wood
can be used successfully in dri-
ed arrangements.
There arc three suggested
methods for drying flowers.
|. The Upside Down Meth
cd: Gather seed pods first
formed and flowers in bud or
freshly bloomcd: strip off all
leaves, bunch together without
letting heads touch: hang up
sidc-down i'll dark. dry place
No moisture should be III the
flowers. as ii will cause rot.
There should be free cirCula-
ton of air around each bunch.
Flowers with large heads
such as hydraugCaS and mari
Colds should not be punched
together. Each head should be
dried separately.
The time required for drying
varies from few days to sew
Cral weeks. After the materials
are thoroughly dried. store
them in a box.
>. The BoraX Method: Silt
four inches of bOraX in i box.
Place flowers that have had
the leaves removed upside
down in the bOraN. DO not let
the flower heads touch each
other. Cover the flower with
boraX. Place lid on box and
put away. The length of time
that the flowers should stay in
the boraX varies. Some flowers
require only about 30 hours.
while others require three to
four DAYS. Look NJ the flowers
every few days.
When they are dry. remove
from the boraN Brush with II
slightly dampcncd soft brush.
Hang upside down for a day.
Store in paste board boz
3. The Glyccrin Method:
Leaves should he gathered aft
or they are fully developed.
Dried leaves are very brittle.
but often they may be used
effectively in an arrangement.
Ferns and many other leaves
may be pressed between the
leaves of magazines or between
two pieces of blottCr. Arrange
each piece Of leaf carefully.
place in a protected place. and
weight down.
This method is used for
leaves. Gather branchcS of full
lv-dcvcloped leaves: remove any
detected leaves and wash to re
move dirt and dust. Pound tho
stem with hammer until the
bark is well split
Mix ID glyccrIn and "a
water in a Jar. Place branches
Of leaves in tho GlvccrIn MKT
urC. The stem should hC sub
merged IN al least five iuCIlC:
of tho mixture. Let tho branch
stay in the ClvcCrjn until tho
leaves have absorbed the civ
cerin. They will change color
and texture. II usually takes
two or more weeks for the
change tn take place Tn"
leaves may be wiped off with
Il cloth dampcrCd With the uly-
Ccrin 10 delay the driving OF the
leaf so that il ran absorb
more of the Glyccriu Wipe of
each leaf and store ~ boxes.
Leaves Of plants that gror
close to the ground. such az
ivy. Observation-Disclosures. should
he placed in a COntaincr and
covered with = mixture of ID
water and l-2 glyccrin. They
should stay in the mixture from
; days to 2 weeks When the
leaves arc taken ont. carh one
should bc wiped carefully and
I allowed tn stand in a wCll-vCu;-
Hated place for few days be-
fore storing.
I Materials for dried flowers
! arrangements may be collected
I from January 20 January-ir
/ other words year round.
For q list Of successfully dri.
cd materials and flowers. boii