Things You'll Need
Garden shears
Rubber bands
Heavy-duty paper clips
Laundry drying rack
Roses are among the most beautiful of flowers. Even dried they maintain an elegant and sophisticated appearance. Dried roses are attractive in bouquets and potpourri. You can dry your own roses to retain their color and fragrance, and you need no special equipment. Whether you have grown your own roses or just received some as a gift, drying them preserves the beauty of these lovely flowers so you can enjoy them for a long time to come.
Step 1
Cut each rose fresh with as long a stem as possible. This may not be viable if you have received roses from a florist, but the procedure for drying them will be the same.
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Step 2
Remove the bottom leaves from each rose stem. Bind two or three roses together at the end of their stems with a rubber band. Make the binding secure but as loose as possible. Make sure the rose blooms do not touch each other. If they touch, they can dry in a flat or odd shape. Also, the area where they touch will take longer to dry and may develop rot because of the moisture.
Step 3
Set up a laundry drying rack in a dark, dry location. An unused closet works well. Avoid basements and other rooms that have high humidity. Stay away from places with light because it will cause the roses' color to fade.
Step 4
Bend a heavy-duty paper clip to form an S shape. Hook one end around the rubber band at the end of a bunch of roses. Hang the rose bunch upside down and hook the other end of the paper clip on the laundry drying rack. Repeat this process for as many roses as you have.
Step 5
Leave the roses undisturbed in the dark, dry location until they are completely dry. It can take from one to three weeks to totally dry the roses. The length of time depends on temperature and humidity. Check them often and throw away any rotting rose blooms.
Tip
You can use florist wire to help the roses stand up when they are dry. Insert an end of wire into the bottom of the fresh rose and bend it around the stem in a long spiral to the end. Hang the roses upside down. More air circulation decreases the drying time.
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