Hawaii Florist Tip: Preserving Your Flowers
You can preserve the fresh beauty of flowers for years
in their
natural vivid colors without a great deal of work or
expense.
Simply mix a combination of four parts of borax to
one part of
silica gel. You can make your mixture by hand; the borax
should
be run through a sieve before mixing with the gel to
remove any
lumps.
You should treat all of the flowers to be preserved
immediately
after picking. Cut off the stems close to the base of
the
flower. In the bottom of a plastic bag or an air-tight
jar put
down a layer of the preserving powder and lay a blossom
face
down on the powder. Pour some additional powder over
the flower
until it is well covered. Then lay another flower face
down and
cover it, repeating the procedure until the bag or jar
is full.
Put on your lid, or if using a bag, press down on it
lightly to
squeeze out all the air. Tie the bag tightly with string
as
close to the contents as possible to prevent air from
coming in.
Now put your flowers and powder mixture away in a dry
place for
about four weeks without peeking at it. Never store
it out of
doors.
At the end of the four weeks, open the container very
gently and
remove the blossoms one at a time, blowing the powder
off them.
You may make a stem by running a piece of florist's
wire through
the lower side of each blossom. Now you have preserved
flowers
in their garden freshness.
A good method of prolonging the life of cut flowers
is to put a
small amount of ammonium chloride, potassium nitrate,
sodium
carbonate or camphor in the water into which the flower
stems
are inserted. One or more of these drugs will keep the
flowers
fresh by working to oppose germ growth and stimulate
the cells.
This method is, however, not permanent like the borax
and gel
solution.
Preserving flowers can help you save your memories
of a wedding
corsage or a gift bouquet forever.
