Dried flowers and herbs are an excellent decorative material for making flower arrangements. Dry plants have many advantages over fresh flowers.
Firstly, they are more durable, and secondly, they are accessible to everyone. Material for compositions from dry plants is always near us - in forests, parks, meadows and even on the alleys of a big city. Dried flowers do not require special vases with water. Anything can serve as “dishes”: wire and paper, dry branches, driftwood, bark, straw wicker, polystyrene foam. In specialized stores you can purchase special containers with “piaflor” - a sponge for attaching live, dry and artificial plants, or piaflor, which is cut to the shape of the container and tightly inserted into it. You can hold dry and artificial material using needle and hole holders, wire, plasticine, sand, moss, and glue. You can use heat guns.
It is necessary to collect material for a winter dry bouquet at different periods of plant growth. Some are interesting in the spring, others during flowering, and many in the fall, when the fruits ripen.
The materials used to compose dry compositions are very diverse: these include natural dried flowers, i.e. those plants that, when dried, retain their decorative properties, and ordinary garden and wildflowers, dried in a special way, and decorative onions, ferns, cereals, branches of bushes and trees, dried along with fruits, such as hawthorn, barberry, viburnum, sea buckthorn , snowberry, euonymus and many others. Among aquatic and meadow plants, reeds, sedges, cattails, and reeds can be used for bouquets.
Northern forests provide a lot of material for arrangement. Here they collect dry branches of trees, shrubs, roots, lichens, and heather. In pine and spruce forests you can find a lot of branches covered with light silver lichens - they look very impressive in compositions, but they cannot be immediately brought into a warm room. You must first dry them in a dark and cool place.
Twigs with fruits of alder, birch, maple, linden, and willow look great in bouquets. Pine, spruce, cedar, larch, etc. cones are excellent material for New Year's compositions.
Drying in silica gel
When composing compositions, you can use nuts, dried pieces of orange and lemon. It is very good to dry plants in alum, semolina, clean, dry and calcined sand. But it is best to use silica gel for this purpose - then drying occurs faster. Before use, it is crushed and dried in the oven. Then they take a cardboard box, pour a 2-3 cm thick layer of silica gel on the bottom, carefully place the plant on it, straighten it, and then very carefully cover the entire plant with silica gel, trying not to deform the petals and leaves. The drying time, depending on the type of plant, can be from 2 days to a month.
In this way, even roses, lilies, orchids, and double dahlias can be dried well.
Microwave drying
The microwave oven expands the possibilities for drying silver or gray flowers and herbs. This drying method has no equal in terms of color preservation and efficiency - after all, the whole process takes just a few minutes! The open drying method is the easiest: arrange the flowers in layers on several layers of filter paper and turn on the oven at half power for 2 - 3 minutes, then remove the flowers and hang them by the stems for a couple of days if you do not need them for the arrangement right away. This is a good method for plants with many small flowers (gypsophila, mantle, goldenrod, lavender).
Preserving plants using glycerin:
Some plants can be “preserved” by treating them with glycerin. The solution is prepared from 1-2 parts of glycerin and 4 parts of boiling water; for better absorption of the solution by the plants, cuts are made at the ends of the stem. The solution is poured into the bowl so that the stems can be immersed 3-4 cm into it. This operation usually takes 2-3 weeks. As the plants absorb the solution, it is filled with new portions. As a result of this treatment, the stems and especially the leaves become elastic, but slightly change their color. It is by the change in color that we can conclude that the plant has absorbed glycerin. Then the ends of the stems must be washed with water and dried. It is good to treat plants such as reeds, reeds, astilbe, branches of magnolia, rose hips, small-leaved maple, yarrow, meadow grasses and others with glycerin.
1.Cut and prepare the material. Evergreens can be cut for preservation at any time of the year, deciduous plants - in mid-summer or autumn.
2. Thoroughly mix one part glycerin with two parts boiling water, immerse the plant in the solution to a depth of 7.5 cm. Keep the vessel in a cool, shaded place.
3. Inspect the plants every week - sometimes wipe the upper leaves on long branches with a cloth soaked in an aqueous solution of glycerin.
4.Take out the plants when all the leaves change color. The process takes from 1 to 8 weeks depending on the type of plant; if necessary, a solution is added to the vessel.
5.Blot the finished plants with a paper towel. Before use, you need to hang the plants for several days with their heads down so that they fix their shape. Plants that look beautiful after preservation: rose, camellia, beech, rosemary, hydrangea, ferns, rowan, pear, boxwood, oak, willow, magnolia, eucalyptus, rhododendron.
In some plants that are not actually dried flowers, flowers and inflorescences retain their decorative properties when dried quickly. At the beginning of blooming, such flowers are cut and tied into small loose bunches so that the flowers and leaves do not come into contact with each other. They are then hung upside down in a dry room. This way you can dry ageratum, aruncus, achillea, hydrangea, gypsophila paniculata, freesia, cornflower, celosia, burnet, liatris, solidago, etc.
Plant coloring
If desired, dried flowers can be given different colors. For this it is best to use organic dyes:
Alcohol-soluble eosin can give dried flowers shades from crimson to red. In a warm solution of eosin, lichens, feather grass, and gypsophila are well stained.
Natural green with all the variety of shades is obtained by dyeing dry plants in a decoction of fresh potato tops with the addition of a small amount of iron sulfate (5-10 g per 10 liters of decoction). The blue color is obtained by soaking cornflower flowers in a decoction with the addition of vinegar (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of decoction). The brightness of natural blue tones can be preserved. To do this, before drying, the plant must be sprayed with a 6-9% solution of acetic acid.
The brightness of the color of natural yellow flowers can be preserved if the flowers are treated with a decoction of maple leaves or calendula flowers before drying (boil 0.5 kg of raw material in 1 liter of water).
The pink color can be preserved if plants with pink flowers are soaked in aqueous linden extract. The extract is prepared as follows: freshly picked linden flowers are soaked for 2-3 days in soft (rain) water at the rate of 100 g of flowers per 1 liter of water.
You can paint dried flowers with special colored sprays or paints for natural materials, which are sold in florist departments. In addition to special dyes, dried flowers and cereals can be tinted using aniline dyes for cotton fabrics. Dry plants, slightly moistened with water from a spray bottle, are lowered with their heads down into a hot (90 degrees) dye solution (see instructions for preparing the solution on the dye package) and kept in it until it cools. If the paint is very bright, you can hold it for a short time and then immerse the plant in clean water to reduce the brightness of the color. After painting, the plants are hung dried and then used to make compositions.
Autumn leaves, as well as acacia and violet flowers, are best dried with a hot iron through 4-5 sheets of blotting paper.
Dried plants can be tinted. For this purpose, watercolor paints and special designer sprays are used. However, you should not get too carried away with this, so that the plants do not lose their natural appearance.
Crystallization of plants
For New Year's compositions, branches and herbs that have undergone crystallization are often used. To do this, prepare a saturated solution of table salt (2:1). Plants are dipped into it for 1-2 days. After crystal growth, the plants are removed from the solution and dried. The formation of crystals can be achieved faster. To do this, you need to lower the material into a boiling solution and immediately take it out into the cold.
If you add copper bisulfate or iron bisulfate to a solution of table salt, the color of the crystals will be blue-green.
To obtain an orange color of the crystals, potassium dichromate is added to the solution of table salt. It is good to treat branches of larch, spruce, pine, hogweed inflorescences and the like with a solution of table salt.
Dried plants are stored in dry, cool, well-ventilated areas, away from direct sunlight.
Dried flower plants: Ammobium, Achillea meadowsweet, heather, helipterum, helichrysum, gypsophila paniculata, gomphrena, xeranthemum, lunaria, Echinops, panicum, wormwood, cattail, eryngium, statice, physalis, cellosia, edelweiss and others.
Plants whose fruits or seeds are used for dry bouquets: Hogweed, barnyard grass, Iberis, flax, lunaria, nigella, wormwood, eryngium, stachys, physalis, echinacea.
Ornamental grasses
Wheat, rye, oats, barley are field cereals.
Reeds and cattails grow wild.
Cereals: Briza, haretail, bromus, lamarcia, miscanthus, fescue, pampas grass, pennisetum, polypogon, panicum, setaria, falaris, maned barley.
Dried flowers need care. The most important thing is not to expose them to sunlight so as not to fade. You can also blow off dust from them and occasionally spray them with hairspray.
Exotic shaped branches
Dynamic and spectacular compositions can be created using branches of unusual shapes, which can be made using basic improvised means and your own imagination
Cut long thin branches of trees or shrubs - they should bend easily and not break. Willow and redwood are well suited.
Peel them carefully from the bark. Wrap them around any shape you like - an elongated bottle, the leg of a chair or table, etc. and secure the entwined branch with a cloth, swaddling it tightly. Adjust the number of turns at your own discretion - the same bottle shape in this case can give you different branch options.
When the entwined branches are dry, unwind the fabric, remove the branch and use it in the composition.
Conservation:
Using glycerin. For this method of preserving flowers, you will need glycerin, which must be diluted with boiling water (1:2). Place pre-prepared plants in this solution and place the dishes in a cool, dark place. Now wait until all the leaves change color. This process can last from one to several weeks. So be patient and, if necessary, add glycerin solution to the vessel. Plants that have reached the required condition should be removed, allowed to dry on a paper towel, and then hung upside down for several days to dry. With the glycerin method of preservation, the plant does not dry out at all. Glycerin simply replaces water in the tissues, maintaining the elasticity of the leaves. This method is good if you want to preserve thick branches of plants such as rose hips or rowan and expect that the berries will be preserved on them.
Using wax. Another quick method of preservation is as follows. You need to heat the wax, dip the plants in it for a minute and then cool them in cold water.
Skeleton leaves
. In a bowl of water, dilute bleach (such as Whiteness) and soak the sheet in it until it turns white.
. Then rinse the leaf and carefully remove the pulp with a brush or scrape with the back of a knife until only the veins remain.
. Rinse the sheet and blot with a napkin. Leave to dry.
For skeletonization, choose large, healthy leaves. Leaves of oak, laurel, maple, ivy, poplar, and magnolia are suitable.
Candied flowers.
You can use: roses, rose hips, violets, pansies, nasturtium.
Wash the flowers carefully (without damaging them), dry them well, and straighten the petals.
Beat the whites simply by beating them very lightly with a fork. Brush the petals with this protein. Place the flowers on a dry board sprinkled with powdered sugar. Sprinkle the flowers with powdered sugar through a strainer, then wait until the whites are almost completely dry and sprinkle again. For roses the procedure is more protracted. They candy one half of the flower, wait until it dries, then proceed to the second half.
It is best to candy the flowers of elderberry, white acacia, pear, apple, and cherry. They taste great. Candied citrus flowers, violets, and roses look very beautiful. Aromatic herbs are also candied: angelica stems, lemon balm leaves, rosehip flowers.
For decorating the cake Flowers such as violet, primrose, narcissus, freesia, fuchsia will suit you. Cut or purchase flowers for candying immediately before processing. Choose buds that are barely opening.
You will need the lightly beaten white of one egg and fine granulated sugar.
Blot any moisture from the flowers with a paper towel and leave a small section of stem if possible. Using a thin watercolor brush, apply the beaten egg white to the stem.
Using a spoon, sprinkle granulated sugar evenly on both sides of the flowers and carefully shake off the excess.
Leave the flowers to dry in a warm place on a wire rack covered with paper towels. Some flowers should be dried on paper, spread out, with the stem facing up. Coat the leaves with granulated sugar in the same way. It is better if they have beautiful outlines.
Store dried flowers in a box between layers of paper towel. Be careful not to damage them. Use for decorating any cakes.
Dried flowers and herbs are an excellent decorative material for making flower arrangements. Dry plants have many advantages over fresh flowers.
Firstly, they are more durable, and secondly, they are accessible to everyone. Material for compositions from dry plants is always near us - in forests, parks, meadows and even on the alleys of a big city. Dried flowers do not require special vases with water. Anything can serve as “dishes”: wire and paper, dry branches, driftwood, bark, straw wicker, polystyrene foam. In specialized stores you can purchase special containers with “piaflor” - a sponge for attaching live, dry and artificial plants, or piaflor, which is cut to the shape of the container and tightly inserted into it. You can hold dry and artificial material using needle and hole holders, wire, plasticine, sand, moss, and glue. You can use heat guns.
It is necessary to collect material for a winter dry bouquet at different periods of plant growth. Some are interesting in the spring, others during flowering, and many in the fall, when the fruits ripen.
The materials used to compose dry compositions are very diverse: these include natural dried flowers, i.e. those plants that, when dried, retain their decorative properties, and ordinary garden and wildflowers, dried in a special way, and decorative onions, ferns, cereals, branches of bushes and trees, dried along with fruits, such as hawthorn, barberry, viburnum, sea buckthorn , snowberry, euonymus and many others. Among aquatic and meadow plants, reeds, sedges, cattails, and reeds can be used for bouquets.
Northern forests provide a lot of material for arrangement. Here they collect dry branches of trees, shrubs, roots, lichens, and heather. In pine and spruce forests you can find a lot of branches covered with light silver lichens - they look very impressive in compositions, but they cannot be immediately brought into a warm room. You must first dry them in a dark and cool place.
Twigs with fruits of alder, birch, maple, linden, and willow look great in bouquets. Pine, spruce, cedar, larch, etc. cones are excellent material for New Year's compositions.
Drying in silica gel
When composing compositions, you can use nuts, dried pieces of orange and lemon. It is very good to dry plants in alum, semolina, clean, dry and calcined sand. But it is best to use silica gel for this purpose - then drying occurs faster. Before use, it is crushed and dried in the oven. Then they take a cardboard box, pour a 2-3 cm thick layer of silica gel on the bottom, carefully place the plant on it, straighten it, and then very carefully cover the entire plant with silica gel, trying not to deform the petals and leaves. The drying time, depending on the type of plant, can be from 2 days to a month.
In this way, even roses, lilies, orchids, and double dahlias can be dried well.
Microwave drying
The microwave oven expands the possibilities for drying silver or gray flowers and herbs. This drying method has no equal in terms of color preservation and efficiency - after all, the whole process takes just a few minutes! The open drying method is the easiest: arrange the flowers in layers on several layers of filter paper and turn on the oven at half power for 2 - 3 minutes, then remove the flowers and hang them by the stems for a couple of days if you do not need them for the arrangement right away. This is a good method for plants with many small flowers (gypsophila, mantle, goldenrod, lavender).
Preserving plants using glycerin:
Some plants can be “preserved” by treating them with glycerin. The solution is prepared from 1-2 parts of glycerin and 4 parts of boiling water; for better absorption of the solution by the plants, cuts are made at the ends of the stem. The solution is poured into the bowl so that the stems can be immersed 3-4 cm into it. This operation usually takes 2-3 weeks. As the plants absorb the solution, it is filled with new portions. As a result of this treatment, the stems and especially the leaves become elastic, but slightly change their color. It is by the change in color that we can conclude that the plant has absorbed glycerin. Then the ends of the stems must be washed with water and dried. It is good to treat plants such as reeds, reeds, astilbe, branches of magnolia, rose hips, small-leaved maple, yarrow, meadow grasses and others with glycerin.
1.Cut and prepare the material. Evergreens can be cut for preservation at any time of the year, deciduous plants - in mid-summer or autumn.
2. Thoroughly mix one part glycerin with two parts boiling water, immerse the plant in the solution to a depth of 7.5 cm. Keep the vessel in a cool, shaded place.
3. Inspect the plants every week - sometimes wipe the upper leaves on long branches with a cloth soaked in an aqueous solution of glycerin.
4.Take out the plants when all the leaves change color. The process takes from 1 to 8 weeks depending on the type of plant; if necessary, a solution is added to the vessel.
5.Blot the finished plants with a paper towel. Before use, you need to hang the plants for several days with their heads down so that they fix their shape. Plants that look beautiful after preservation: rose, camellia, beech, rosemary, hydrangea, ferns, rowan, pear, boxwood, oak, willow, magnolia, eucalyptus, rhododendron.
In some plants that are not actually dried flowers, flowers and inflorescences retain their decorative properties when dried quickly. At the beginning of blooming, such flowers are cut and tied into small loose bunches so that the flowers and leaves do not come into contact with each other. They are then hung upside down in a dry room. This way you can dry ageratum, aruncus, achillea, hydrangea, gypsophila paniculata, freesia, cornflower, celosia, burnet, liatris, solidago, etc.
Plant coloring
If desired, dried flowers can be given different colors. For this it is best to use organic dyes:
Alcohol-soluble eosin can give dried flowers shades from crimson to red. In a warm solution of eosin, lichens, feather grass, and gypsophila are well stained.
Natural green with all the variety of shades is obtained by dyeing dry plants in a decoction of fresh potato tops with the addition of a small amount of iron sulfate (5-10 g per 10 liters of decoction). The blue color is obtained by soaking cornflower flowers in a decoction with the addition of vinegar (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of decoction). The brightness of natural blue tones can be preserved. To do this, before drying, the plant must be sprayed with a 6-9% solution of acetic acid.
The brightness of the color of natural yellow flowers can be preserved if the flowers are treated with a decoction of maple leaves or calendula flowers before drying (boil 0.5 kg of raw material in 1 liter of water).
The pink color can be preserved if plants with pink flowers are soaked in aqueous linden extract. The extract is prepared as follows: freshly picked linden flowers are soaked for 2-3 days in soft (rain) water at the rate of 100 g of flowers per 1 liter of water.
You can paint dried flowers with special colored sprays or paints for natural materials, which are sold in florist departments. In addition to special dyes, dried flowers and cereals can be tinted using aniline dyes for cotton fabrics. Dry plants, slightly moistened with water from a spray bottle, are lowered with their heads down into a hot (90 degrees) dye solution (see instructions for preparing the solution on the dye package) and kept in it until it cools. If the paint is very bright, you can hold it for a short time and then immerse the plant in clean water to reduce the brightness of the color. After painting, the plants are hung dried and then used to make compositions.
Autumn leaves, as well as acacia and violet flowers, are best dried with a hot iron through 4-5 sheets of blotting paper.
Dried plants can be tinted. For this purpose, watercolor paints and special designer sprays are used. However, you should not get too carried away with this, so that the plants do not lose their natural appearance.
Crystallization of plants
For New Year's compositions, branches and herbs that have undergone crystallization are often used. To do this, prepare a saturated solution of table salt (2:1). Plants are dipped into it for 1-2 days. After crystal growth, the plants are removed from the solution and dried. The formation of crystals can be achieved faster. To do this, you need to lower the material into a boiling solution and immediately take it out into the cold.
If you add copper bisulfate or iron bisulfate to a solution of table salt, the color of the crystals will be blue-green.
To obtain an orange color of the crystals, potassium dichromate is added to the solution of table salt. It is good to treat branches of larch, spruce, pine, hogweed inflorescences and the like with a solution of table salt.
Dried plants are stored in dry, cool, well-ventilated areas, away from direct sunlight.
Dried flower plants: Ammobium, Achillea meadowsweet, heather, helipterum, helichrysum, gypsophila paniculata, gomphrena, xeranthemum, lunaria, Echinops, panicum, wormwood, cattail, eryngium, statice, physalis, cellosia, edelweiss and others.
Plants whose fruits or seeds are used for dry bouquets: Hogweed, barnyard grass, Iberis, flax, lunaria, nigella, wormwood, eryngium, stachys, physalis, echinacea.
Ornamental grasses
Wheat, rye, oats, barley are field cereals.
Reeds and cattails grow wild.
Cereals: Briza, haretail, bromus, lamarcia, miscanthus, fescue, pampas grass, pennisetum, polypogon, panicum, setaria, falaris, maned barley.
Dried flowers need care. The most important thing is not to expose them to sunlight so as not to fade. You can also blow off dust from them and occasionally spray them with hairspray.
Exotic shaped branches
Dynamic and spectacular compositions can be created using branches of unusual shapes, which can be made using basic improvised means and your own imagination
Cut long thin branches of trees or shrubs - they should bend easily and not break. Willow and redwood are well suited.
Peel them carefully from the bark. Wrap them around any shape you like - an elongated bottle, the leg of a chair or table, etc. and secure the entwined branch with a cloth, swaddling it tightly. Adjust the number of turns at your own discretion - the same bottle shape in this case can give you different branch options.
When the entwined branches are dry, unwind the fabric, remove the branch and use it in the composition.
Conservation:
Using glycerin. For this method of preserving flowers, you will need glycerin, which must be diluted with boiling water (1:2). Place pre-prepared plants in this solution and place the dishes in a cool, dark place. Now wait until all the leaves change color. This process can last from one to several weeks. So be patient and, if necessary, add glycerin solution to the vessel. Plants that have reached the required condition should be removed, allowed to dry on a paper towel, and then hung upside down for several days to dry. With the glycerin method of preservation, the plant does not dry out at all. Glycerin simply replaces water in the tissues, maintaining the elasticity of the leaves. This method is good if you want to preserve thick branches of plants such as rose hips or rowan and expect that the berries will be preserved on them.
Using wax. Another quick method of preservation is as follows. You need to heat the wax, dip the plants in it for a minute and then cool them in cold water.
Skeleton leaves
In a bowl of water, dilute bleach (such as Whiteness) and soak the sheet in it until it turns white.
Then rinse the leaf and carefully remove the pulp with a brush or scrape with the back of a knife until only the veins remain.
Rinse the sheet and blot with a napkin. Leave to dry.
For skeletonization, choose large, healthy leaves. Leaves of oak, laurel, maple, ivy, poplar, and magnolia are suitable.
Candied flowers.
You can use: roses, rose hips, violets, pansies, nasturtium.
Wash the flowers carefully (without damaging them), dry them well, and straighten the petals.
Beat the whites simply by beating them very lightly with a fork. Brush the petals with this protein. Place the flowers on a dry board sprinkled with powdered sugar. Sprinkle the flowers with powdered sugar through a strainer, then wait until the whites are almost completely dry and sprinkle again. For roses the procedure is more protracted. They candy one half of the flower, wait until it dries, then proceed to the second half.
It is best to candy the flowers of elderberry, white acacia, pear, apple, and cherry. They taste great. Candied citrus flowers, violets, and roses look very beautiful. Aromatic herbs are also candied: angelica stems, lemon balm leaves, rosehip flowers.
For decorating the cake Flowers such as violet, primrose, narcissus, freesia, fuchsia will suit you. Cut or purchase flowers for candying immediately before processing. Choose buds that are barely opening.
You will need the lightly beaten white of one egg and fine granulated sugar.
Blot any moisture from the flowers with a paper towel and leave a small section of stem if possible. Using a thin watercolor brush, apply the beaten egg white to the stem.
Using a spoon, sprinkle granulated sugar evenly on both sides of the flowers and carefully shake off the excess.
Leave the flowers to dry in a warm place on a wire rack covered with paper towels. Some flowers should be dried on paper, spread out, with the stem facing up. Coat the leaves with granulated sugar in the same way. It is better if they have beautiful outlines.
Store dried flowers in a box between layers of paper towel. Be careful not to damage them. Use for decorating any cakes.
A person living in a “concrete jungle” strives to be closer to nature. Therefore, flowers appear in his home, which not only soften the urban interior, but also carry the energy of prosperity, wealth, love, and well-being.
Feng Shui is against cut fresh flowers
Is it possible to keep dried flowers in the house? This question is primarily of interest to those who, for various reasons, cannot have living plants that require constant attention. Feng Shui has a negative attitude towards cut fresh flowers, but experts have differing opinions regarding dried floral arrangements that have retained their natural attractiveness in the home.
If you are interested in the question of whether it is possible to keep dried flowers at home, pay attention to their positive and negative sides, from an esoteric point of view. Dried flowers differ from living plants in being less potent. But during the growth period they received a lot of energy from the earth, water and sun.
Therefore, even dried flowers are real batteries capable of releasing accumulated heat to a person. Dried flowers are ideal for representatives of the four zodiac signs: Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra.
Dried flowers almost do not change (they do not grow or fade), therefore, they can help a person find constancy in his feelings. Suitable for those who want to maintain purity of soul and other positive qualities (hard work, perseverance, decency).
Dried flowers contain the cardinal cross of the zodiac signs of the four elements, which means the basis of life. Therefore, dried plants stimulate a revaluation of values in favor of fundamental concepts: family, homeland, children, parents. A bouquet of dried flowers can help a person who doesn’t respect his parents or doesn’t love his home to navigate life correctly.
People with unstable moods simply need dried flowers, which will help them become more patient and kinder towards others, and increase their resistance to emotional overload and stress.
Dried flowers “fix” the atmosphere in the house. If all your household members treat each other with love and understanding, be sure to decorate the house with dried flowers to prolong this blessed state of the family.
A dried plant that retains its qualities for a long time will help you avoid losing your abilities and talents during times of lack of demand.
“Children of nature” have a beneficial effect on the entire body, causing:
A bouquet of dried flowers, located in the northern sector of the house, will help preserve male potency and husband's fidelity. It should be borne in mind that if the husband is already cheating, dried flowers will not help to return his devotion. On the contrary, you need to get rid of them as soon as possible.
In the old days, housewives placed compositions of dry plants above the front door. This helped protect against thieves, enemies and evil spirits. For example, thistle, St. John's wort, thyme, and wormwood have protective properties.
Under the influence of dried flowers, order will always reign in your home, and household members will take care of their belongings.
A special role is given to the bride's bouquet. The ancient Slavs considered it a kind of talisman for future marriage. Dried roses should keep peace, mutual understanding, and harmony in the house. To attract wealth, abundance and good luck, you can even hang them in bunches around the house.
Dried flowers lose their potency if they are moved frequently, so find a permanent place for them.
Observant people have noticed that dried flowers become much more active when the Sun is in the constellations of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Try to fill your house with dried flowers during these periods.
Do not store dried flowers for very long. They should be thrown away as soon as they change color. Loss of color means complete “emptying” of the plants. The flower has completely given up its energy and needs to be replaced. Otherwise, he will begin to take away from the person what he gave him. It is recommended to replace dried flowers once a year when a fresh crop of flowers appears.
This rule does not apply to a flower that you keep as a memory of a loved one or event. You can keep such an object in your field of attention for exactly as long as it evokes pleasant emotions. But you need to be ready to “let go of the flower” when it has completely fulfilled its mission.
If you want to dry plants, this should be done outside the living space (for example, on a balcony, in a book, in a box of sand).
“Spent” dried flowers should be burned without watching how they burn.
Ideally, dried flowers should be kept together with live ones. So, a houseplant will help change the atmosphere in the house to a favorable one, and dried flowers will help maintain positive energy.
If you need to get rid of something, a bouquet of dried flowers will get in the way. His influence will not allow you to throw away unnecessary trash. If you have a hoarding habit, it is better to get potted plants.
It has been noticed that many dried flowers are in the house of people who do not want to change, do not want to work on themselves
The energy of constancy has a negative side. Its bearers help preserve not only wealth and dignity, but also existing problems.
For whom dried flowers are not suitable:
It has been noticed that many dried flowers are in the house of people who do not want to change and do not want to work on themselves.
There are folk beliefs that explain why dried flowers should not be stored in the house. They are believed to steal youth and strength. But this primarily applies to cut flowers fading in a vase. Not only does life leave the plants, but rotting water also becomes a source of bad energy.
Plants that have begun to wither should be thrown away immediately, because in the process of dying they release and spread a lot of negative energy.
In addition, signs answer negatively to the question of whether it is possible to store dried flowers at home, when it comes to dried buds, and not stems and leaves. It is believed that such decor brings:
Experts in the Eastern teachings of home improvement claim that cut flowers bring withering and death. Feng Shui proponents do not recommend decorating your home with plants without roots. But they advise giving potted flowers, symbolizing life and prosperity.
If, for various reasons, you don’t want to part with dried flowers, it is important to find the right place in the house for such decor. Dried flowers should not be kept in the living room, bedroom or children's room. In these rooms, dried flowers can disrupt the movement of energy flows, which will lead to the accumulation of negativity.
The kitchen and bathroom are the best places for dead plants.
Dried flower decor perfectly neutralizes excess water energy. This is especially important in those houses where the bathroom or kitchen is on the second floor, and the residents suffer from the “water from the mountain” energy flow.
Any dried memorial bouquets (wedding and others reminiscent of important joyful events) should be kept in the kitchen. This way you can “shoot two birds with one stone”: keep an item that you don’t want to part with and bring wealth and prosperity into your home.
So, dried flowers bring specific, often negative, energy into the house. Therefore, you should not thoughtlessly decorate your home with similar decor without a good reason.
Useful tips
Flowers are given on special occasions, and often without them, just to cheer someone up. They decorate halls for celebrations and gifts. However, fresh flowers tend to fade quickly.
In addition, dried flowers are an inexpensive, but no less wonderful alternative to a living bouquet. Lavender and roses, for example, retain their scent for a long time, delighting you, your loved ones and guests with it.
In this article we will tell you how to preserve the memory of a wonderful moment for a long time by drying the flowers that decorated the holiday of the soul and heart.
Air dry
Air drying flowers is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to keep flowers in a shape as close to their original shape as possible. This does not require special devices, devices or substances.
You just need to cut the flower you want to dry if it grows in your garden, or cut the stem to the length you need if it is in a vase on your table. Remove thorns and leaves from the bottom of the stem, tie the branches into one bouquet so that the buds do not deteriorate or become deformed. Hang the bouquet in a well-ventilated area, away from sunlight, otherwise the flowers will simply fade.
The whole process can take several days, so be patient and the results will amaze you. However, it is worth remembering that the flower will lose weight and become approximately half its size, and will also lose its original light. However, don’t be upset – their vintage look will add a special touch to your product.
Dry in the microwave
Drying flowers in the microwave is currently the newest, fastest and most effective way. One of its main advantages is that the color and shape of the flower practically do not change. It retains its former beauty. However, it is worth remembering that this method is not suitable for small delicate flowers.
To dry a flower in the microwave, you will need either a small amount of silica gel or cat litter crystals. Place the silica gel or crystals in a microwave-safe bowl. Make a small notch in them with your finger, place the bud in it and cover it with crystals as carefully as possible.
After this, turn on the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Check the flower every 30 seconds until it is completely dry. Leave the flower and crystals to cool. Carefully remove the flower from the crystals and enjoy the result. Most flowers dry within 1-3 minutes. Remember that the juicier the petals, the more time they need.
A method for the lazy
For particularly lazy beauty lovers, there is a way to dry flowers that does not require much effort. Hydrangea, for example, is ideal for this purpose. Cut the hydrangea stem along with the bud to the length required. It is worth cutting when the petals feel like paper to the touch.
Place the stems in a vase with a little water and wait for the water to evaporate. At first it may seem that the flower is losing its original beauty, but do not forget that it dries out, and it is normal that it changes shape and color. A few weeks later, use them as decoration, or simply leave them in a vase.
Dry under pressure
It is necessary to warn that this method is not suitable for drying flowers with voluminous buds, if you want to maintain their shape - they will simply become flat. The ideal choice would be daisies, dandelions, carnations and other flowers that do not deform greatly under pressure, but the final decision is yours.
In order to dry flowers under pressure and preserve their beauty, collect healthy plants without stains or damage. It is best to cut them on a sunny day, if there has been no rain for some time, so that drops of water or dew do not remain on the petals.
Cover the flower with parchment paper or baking paper and place it face down in a thick, heavy book. It is advisable that this be a telephone directory. After this, leave the flower under pressure for 7-10 days, sometimes checking the result if desired.
Dry with silica gel
This method is ideal for drying large, whole flowers. Initially, salt and sand were used for traditional drying. However, these materials are more difficult to clean, the process takes 6 to 8 weeks, and the results are always unpredictable.
Nowadays, instead of sand and salt, silica gel is used - transparent or white crystals, sometimes with blue splashes. It allows you to dry a flower in a few days, preserving its original color and shape as much as possible. Often, plants dried with silica gel look almost exactly like freshly picked ones.
The silica gel absorbs the liquid from the plant and the blue crystals turn pink, signaling that it has released as much liquid as possible. The process must take place in an airtight container.
In addition, silica gel can be reused - to do this, you just need to dry it thoroughly. To do this, the used crystals must be placed on a baking sheet and placed in an oven preheated to 210 degrees Celsius. Once the crystals turn blue again, they can be reused.
Water drying
Another traditional method is water drying. It sounds very contradictory, but this method allows you to easily preserve the shape and color of the plant. It is great for flowers with a strong stem and for those that you want to maintain that stem.
In order for the process to be successful, you need some kind of vessel, deep plate or container. Pour a minimum amount of water onto the bottom and place your flower there. Over time, the water will begin to evaporate, and the flowers will dry without much stress on them, maintaining their color and shape. This may take about 1-2 weeks.
Oven drying
In order to dry flowers in the oven, the temperature should be low - no more than 38º C , otherwise they will simply burn and lose their beauty. People have been using this method since ovens were invented, because it is very convenient and does not require additional costs.
It is great because it will save you if you don't have room in your house to air dry, or if you need to dry something in a short time. You can also resort to it for a kind of safety net. If you are not sure that when drying in air or water, all the moisture has come out of the flower and it will not become moldy, place it in the oven - this gives a 100% result.
To do this, you need to set the oven temperature to 38ºC , and open the door slightly so that excess moisture can escape freely. Place the flowers or petals in a single layer on baking paper and place the tray in the oven.
Observe the process and turn the flowers over every 15 minutes. When the flowers become brittle and crispy, remove them from the oven and the decoration is ready. Depending on what you're drying, the process can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so try not to dry several different types at the same time.
Dried colorful flowers can remind you of a bright, sunny summer throughout the winter.Dried flowers , if dried correctly, retain their natural shape and color.
Florists who practice different methods of drying flowers believe that almost all flowers are suitable for dried flowers. But not all methods are available to amateur gardeners. Therefore, we will consider only those plants that can be driedeveryone can do it.
They will complement any room: living room, living room, kitchen, office or study. They lift your spirits and make the atmosphere light, spring and pleasant.
They look very unusualherbs dried flowers . Many of them last much longer than flowers and do not lose their beauty. Herbs can be combined with dried flowers or used alone.
Most easy way A method that works for most plants is to simply tie small bunches of them and hang them in a dry, dark place. Use this method for dryingflowers on thin stalks .
Flowers on powerful peduncles For example, dry hydrangeas directly in a vase, filling it with 10 cm of water. After two to three weeks, the water will evaporate and the inflorescences will dry out.
Separate flowers and leaves can be dried in a warm oven , such plants retain their aroma and natural color.
Basic Rule for dried flowers, this is to protect them from direct sunlight. Plants quickly lose their color from the sun and bright light. It is also equally important that dried flowers are stored in a dry room. High humidity destroys the shape and color of flowers.
Dried flowers are preserved in different ways, depending on the plant and the storage conditions. For example, lavender, gypsophila and astilbe lose their original decorative effect within a year. But ornamental grasses, immortelle and helipterum retain their bright color and shape for 3-4 years. Dried flowers in bouquets and arrangements suffer greatly from dust, so they need to be shaken all the time.
Now you know,how to make dried flowers and you can create a unique and beautiful bouquet. It remains to figure out which plants are ideal for this.
Among the flowers thatsuitable for drying , most annuals. It is very easy to grow them; the seeds are sown directly on the flower bed in the month of May. Keep in mind that they all need plenty of sun.
Dried flowers names.The most popular plants that are suitable for drying.
Fruit for drying:
It's just most popular plants , which are ideal for drying. And you can still dry a lot of things. Inflorescences of ornamental cereals, dry inflorescences of alliums (ornamental onions), hops, anafalis, yarrow, lavender, astilbe, amaranth, shakers, haretail, eryngium, etc. are also suitable. By the way, roses can also be dried and retain their shape, only for this you will need silica gel.
