Rose Petals Happily Forever +

 I swear that it was end of May last year before I started to dry the rose petals but this year we have had exceptional hot and sunny days and the roses are out and I now have to get cracking to start collecting and drying them. I have tried many ways to retain the colour and smell over the years and there are several ways to do this. So I thought I would show you how I do mine. Anyway I will give a small bag (decent size) of my pot-pourri to the first 3 people to ask for it. All I ask is that you pay the postage of 3€ worldwide offer. 3€ is the standard int.Standard package.

For example if I am drying rose petals for pot- pourri then I scatter the rose petals on a microwave safe plate. Microwave for one minute. If the petals are still damp, microwave at one-minute intervals until dry. They come out looking like this, as you can see the white has gone brownish but that's fine as they will be going into bags and the smell is not lost. I have my own blend for pot-pourris and if you would like it then just ask and I will give it to you.

The red petals shown below I dried in the microwave (this one took 3 minutes) and you can see it progressivly getting darker becoming almost black.  Not a good choice for throwing at the Bride & Groom as any chance of dampness and they will stain clothes quicker than you can say Jack Rabbit. You can see the stains on the plate on the 3rd picture.

1 minute in microwave

2 minutes

 

3 minutes and dry

You can also dry the petals by spreading them onto tissue paper or on wire screen. Put them where they will get plenty of ventilation but not be disturbed by breezes. An enclosed patio or spare room is a good choice. Stir them very occasionally to dry evenly. This takes several days to complete. I don't recommend drying them in direct sunlight as I found out to my cost they lose their perfume.
Pressed petals. If you have one or two special roses from a gift bouquet, you can press the petals. Pluck the petals out and put them between paper towels. Put a book or board on them to press the petals as they dry, alternatively  use a flower press I have successfully dried many varities this way. Great for making your own cards or for creating a picture.





  

  

  

 

  To get flat petals that will also retain their colour, lay onto a linen sheet placing them in a single layer. For petals with a little curl to the edges, lay them the curling side down but pull out the curl as best you can and just pat them into place. Bit fiddly but worth it, cover the petals with another sheet and gently tamp down. Leave them alone for a few days and they will dry mostly flat and without much shrinkage. You will need a reasonable sized area to achieve this if you have a lot. As you can see they have stayed white. These are then perfect for throwing at the Bride & Groom.

Depending on what colour the roses are will determine if you want to dry them or not. White roses generally dry to a cream but use above method and they will stay white. Yellow roses dry beautiful,below are Rosa Banksia dried and still very yellow. Pinks & rose coloured generally dry well and some reds will dry so dark they look black as I mentioned earlier.



 Right must dash and hope the above helps if you were thinking of trying it for yourself. And if you have another way of doing it I would be happy to hear it.