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.

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.

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.

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

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.