How to Freeze Dry Calla Lilies

There are several ways to preserve flowers for future enjoyment including air drying, pressing, using desiccants, microwaving and freeze drying. Of these methods, freeze drying flowers creates the most realistic final effect. The process of freeze drying involves placing flowers into a freeze drier which lowers the temperature below freezing, while simultaneously removing the moisture from the flower. However, freeze drying requires specialized equipment that is expensive and thus is usually only performed by floral professionals.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Flowers
• Vase
• Water
• Pruning shears
• Freeze drier

1. Place cut flowers in a vase of water and allow them to sit for 12 hours.
2. Remove flowers from the vase and use your fingers to remove all the leaves from the stem.
3. Use pruning shears to cut the stem to the desired length. Stems take longer to dry than the flower petals, so take this into consideration when deciding on a length for the stem.
4. Set the freeze dry machine to -5 degrees Fahrenheit and turn on the vacuum. Allow machine to sit for approximately 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the freeze drier vacuum and insert the flowers into the cylinder. Spacing flowers 2 to 3 inches away from each other. Leave the flowers in the chamber for 24 hours.
6. Turn the vacuum back on and raise the temperature to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Continue raising the temperature of the freeze drier machine by five degrees every two days until the unit reaches +20 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Open the chamber and carefully remove the flowers.