Re: Dried flowers
- Subject: Re: Dried flowers
- From: W*@aol.com
- Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 18:17:57 EST
From: Wjobe@aol.com
Pat,
I have dried I. retuculata , I. danfordiae. and bearded. I used Silica gel
(sand) on all of them. I used butter containers for the small blossoms and a
larger bowl with a
lid for the large bearded. The flowers need to be removed on the large ones
and a wire inserted in the 1/2 inch of stem you leave.
Pour some silica gel in the bottom of the containers and gently place the
blooms
face up. ( you can bend the wire, just make sure it is secure in the stem)
Then gently sift the silica around and in the bloom till it is completly
covered. Put the lid on and store for 1-2 weeks. When you remove the flower
you need to be very careful! Gently pour the silca out. After the bloom is
removed,
gently brush off as much of the silica as you can. Be VERY GENTLE as the
flowers
can tear now since they are very thin. I then would hang them upside down to
complete the drying since the base is still not completly dried. In doing
this, I
would find something or make something tubular for the standards to go in
while
the falls rested on the edge. ( to try to keep the form as close to the
original as
possible) If I didn't, then they would flop while finishing drying.
the I. reticulata and danfordiae usually came out all finished and didn't need
the
extra drying procedure. I also would dry some stalks separately so that after
they were finished I could hot glue the blooms back on. I also used the green
wrapped wire stems cut from silk flowers to glue the blooms to. They are very
fragile and must be kept in a dry place or else they will start to droop. I
used mine
in a large dried mass arangement for a winter, all city, flower show in Omaha
a few years back. I won the arrangement sweepstakes with it. No one could get
over
the fact that there were dried iris in it. Of course, people had to feel them
and some
of them got torn. The little iris hold up better, I kept them in my curio
cabinets
for a number of years, before they became to limp. I think the dwarf iris
would
dry pretty good too. Siberians would also be good. I'm going to try some of
those
this year!! You can get the silica at Wal-Mart. in the craft dept.
Leslie Jobe'
In KY.
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