Drying Rose Petals for Popurri

20 years ago

HI EVERYONE!

My roses are just shy of full bloom.Each rose bush is huge and has hundreds of blooms on it. The thought of making popurri(not spelled right i know :(sorry)and giving as Christmas presents from my own rose bushes has always run through my mind this time of year. I was wondering if without sending me to another website or referring me to a book if you had some quick suggestions on accomplishing this. How best to dry them? I don't see myself buying the silica etc I was thinking more simple like can i just sit them out on a table and let them air dry? Will that work?? or maybe on a low temp in the oven?What Temp ? how long? How can i preserve the smell till Xmas??I'm thinking of making sachets to put them in.If i can preserve the red color some i will use lace any ideas to do this as simply and economically as possibe would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch SunriseFairy

Featured Answer

davidmark

20 years ago

Hello Sunrisefairy! First of all, it is spelled potpourri. What kind of roses do you grow? They have to be very fragrant while fresh to be able to have fragrance when they are dry. The best roses for fragrance when dried are the antique roses like damasks, centifolias, gallicas, albas, bourbons, mosses and portlands. (Visit GardenWeb's Antique Rose Forum to learn more about these roses.) The gallicas are very fragrant when dried, especially Rosa gallica officinalis (Apothecary's Rose) which actually is more fragrant dried than fresh. As far as color goes, all rose petals will lose and change their color when dried. They turn a more subtle hue, from black-red to flesh, from soft magenta to pink, from clove-brown to chamois. It is a lot of work to dry rose petals correctly. Ideally, you must harvest them in the morning, after they have first opened and the dew has evaporated. You then must gently pull the petals off and lay them singly on a drying screen, such as old window screens, where air can circulate all over and under them, out of direct sunlight. The amount of time it takes for the petals to become crispy-dry depends on how hot and humid your days are. But they must be crispy-dry like corn flakes or you'll risk molding. (You could dry them in a barely warm oven, but I would advise not to. It is easier and faster, but the roses will lose some of their fragrance from heating of their oils.) After completely dried, store them in tightly sealed glass jars in a dark place out of the sun or light. Properly dried and stored rose petals will retain their fragrance for a long time if not exposed to air. If you want to preserve their fragrance for years to come in a potpourri, I advise first dusting them while still moist with ground orris root, right befor placing the petals on the drying screens. Orris root is a fixative which will greatly extend the lifetime of the fragrance.

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Comments (6)

candlelady1994
17 years ago
My grandmother died last week and I have all these flowers from the funeral. I want to dry the rose petals so that I can keep them forever. My mother in law said all I have to do is peel off rose petals and leave them in a bowl on the counter. Is this true? I want to do this for the flowers my parents have from the funeral too and them to put it in a nice basket or bowl for them. I want to make sure I am doing this right before I use too many rose petals.
Thanks for your help.
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feighner
17 years ago
Like the post above yours states, place the petals in a single layer or you run the risk of mold. Sorry to hear about your grandmother.
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nic-nac
17 years ago
I agree completely with the above message about preparing potpourri. Through experimentation, however, i have found an efficient way to preserve the rose as a whole, if you are interrested in pressing it of course.

It is extremely difficult because roses retain so much moisture but with wax paper and a little hint, it can be done.
Before pressing the rose, gently and carefully slide your index finger and thumb down the center of the rose and gently pull out the center petals.
Trust me, you will not be able to see these small ones once the rose is pressed anyway.
By taking these petals out, you eliminate much of the moisture which will help the rose to preserve a lot better and you will be able to avoid the whole "mold factor".
This also allows you to completely flatten a rose, which cant be done without taking the center out because the rose is too thick, even when pressed.
So after taking a few small petals out of the center, placing it inbetween wax paper, then placing it in a phone book or any other large NON-GLOSSY book(to avoid retaining of moisture), wait 3-4 weeks before checking, and you will have a beautifully preserved and pressed rose.
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yasminshi
17 years ago
Hello all,

I was just dropping by to learn about a few things, Great post davidmark and also nic-nac.

I don't really know to much on roses or how to dry them, but this is what I do. When I get a fresh bokay of roses I wait to dry them until they are almost brownish in color and droopy. Then I either take one rose at a time or the whole thing and hang it upside down as a whole. "Sometimes there are special one's you just wanna keep" I let them hang for about 2-3, weeks till crispy. I then snip off the long stem and place the flower in a jar. I got creative one day and had a Rose scented candle and i put my roses in with the remains of the candle! Oh boy does it smell good!!

David mark thank you for the helpful tip of what roses are most fragrant. I didn't know there are so many!
And Nic-Nac, i was always curious on how to press my roses, thank you for the input!!
Yasmin Shi
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jackie89
16 years ago
I had good luck drying a rose from my mom's funeral by hanging it upside down. I started it in a rental car in Illinois and finished it in Idaho, where the climate is dry.

That's a good point about the difference in fragrances of roses for potpourri. Maybe the petals I want to dry will just look nice with some lavender.
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