The traditional method for drying flowers is to tie them together around the stems and then hang them upside down from a stick, ceiling beam, or clothes hanger in a location away from direct sunlight. While this method is one of the best for preserving the shape and color of your flowers, it can take several days or even longer in our humid climate. Our expert florists at Flower Kingdom in Palm Beach Gardens put together this handy guide to drying flowers when you don’t have several days to wait for them to be ready.

Hanging Dried Flowers

Three Ways to Dry Flower Fast

1. Dehydrator

If you own a kitchen dehydrator, you can use this nifty appliance to dry flowers, in addition to fruits and veggies. First remove unwanted leaves and stems. Then arrange flowers in the dehydrator, ensuring there’s no overlap. Set the dehydrator to about 100-degrees. To dry completely, flowers will need several hours. If you plan to press flowers after dehydrating them, then you can remove them after a couple of hours in the heat.

Dried Pink Roses

2. Oven

You can also bake your flowers. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting and line a cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper. Arrange flowers so that they aren’t touching and place them in the oven with the door cracked to allow the moisture to escape. Be sure to check on your flowers, as they bake. Most will require about eight to twelve hours to dry out completely.

Bouquet of Dried Roses

3. Microwave

Microwaving flowers is by far the fastest way to dry them, but it also requires some additional supplies like silica sand, and the method limits the size of flowers to stems that fit inside a microwave-safe container.

Dried Peach Roses

To dry flowers in the microwave, first trim their stems and remove any unwanted leaves. Fill container with a layer of silica sand. Then arrange your flowers in the container, covering them completely with sand. Place them in the microwave with a cup of water and blast them with 30-second intervals. The total amount of time needed to dry flowers will depend on the size and type of flowers, but most need about two or three minutes.

Our Favorite Flowers for Preserving

Haute Pink Bouquet

Of course, any flowers with a special sentiment or memory attached to them are well-worth saving, such as wedding bouquets, anniversary arrangements, or even flowers from a first date. Other flowers are worth saving simply because their beautiful, and that beauty can be made to last for a very long time. When drying flowers with the above-listed methods, bouquets of roses fare especially well. Additionally, some other favorite flowers for drying include lavender, statice, thistle, chrysanthemums, and gerbera daisies.

Any flowers that naturally have flat-shaped faces can also be pressed and preserved beautifully. We recommend pressing, if you plan to frame your flowers in a botanical display or use them for decoupage decoration on a jewelry box or other item.

Bouquet of Dried Flowers in Glass Vase

For more flower drying tips and recommendations, we welcome you to stop by Flower Kingdom any time. Our florists will be happy to help you select the perfect bouquets for enjoying and preserving.