How to dry flowers

Dried flowers are a perfect way of extending the enjoyment of your flowers and crafting something imaginative from flowers and plants.

There are several techniques to drying flowers, but here, expert floral artist Bex Partridge explain how she does it.

Read our full feature on Bex's beautiful creations here. Here's how to press flowers.

How to dry flowers

“I always say anything dries,” says Bex. “It’s whether you are willing to accept that thing as dried and not dead.”

• Dry flowers in a room with ambient temperature. They will fade if kept too hot and grow mouldy if too cold. They don’t need to be dried in the dark, but out of direct sunlight is best. Avoid bathrooms and kitchens, because of their humidity.

• Pick flowers when they are at their best, so when they are open but not yet going to seed.

• Pick seedheads and grasses when they are still ‘in the green’ in the most part. If you pick them when they are already turning brown they will turn brittle and be hard to work with. They will also as scatter their seeds across the floor of your drying room.

• Pick tall spire flowers, such as nepeta, larkspur and delphinium, when the bottom half is in flower and the top half still in bud, or you will lose the bottom flowers as they dry.

• The majority will dry best hanging upside down. Make bunches of five to ten stems, tie with a piece of string and hang. They look beautiful hanging out to dry so if you are short on space consider making a display out of them.

• Anything fleshy, such as dahlias, asters and peonies, should be hung individually to allow as much air as possible to circulate around the petals.

• Some flowers dry better standing upright in a vase. Sanguisorbas, gypsophilas and hydrangeas all keep their structure best if left upright in a vase with no more than around 2.5cm of water.