Preserved roses or other kind of preserved flowers is used in many ways and for many purposes. The process of preserving roses or any other kinds of flower is basically to keep its shape, color, and sometimes fragrance. The methods to preserve roses and flowers are numerous. Below, you will find information of anything that you need to know about preserved roses.
History of Rose Preserving and Flower Preserving
Flower preserving has been done in many years. It is believed that flower preserving has its history to be as old as the history of mankind. Since flower is always known as natural accessories for women and for all men throughout history, it is undeniable that flower has been used for multiple purposes.
To keep flower for a long time, they need to be preserved. Flower preservation is believed to be done in the ancient Egyptian time. At that time, flower and all plants were used for daily need such as for medication and beauty purposes. Flowers, especially roses, have relaxing scent so they are preserved in order to keep their scent.
People in ancient Egypt used to place preserved flowers in a room so that bad odors could be absorbed by the good scent from the flower. In the middle ages where fashion started to be a big deal, flowers were adored for its beautiful shapes. Roses, especially, were considered to be very pretty and worth to wear.
Women in middle ages, especially those from the nobility, used preserved roses as accessories. They placed them around the neck, wrist, or on their head. As the year went by, people started to figure out more ways to preserve flowers, including preserving roses of course. They found numerous methods on how to preserve rose petals for many purposes.
They air drying the rose petals, they baked them, they preserved them in chemical substance, and so on. Today, the usage of preserved roses and other flowers is more than as accessories. They can be used in many other ways including as craft materials and for memorability of special moments.
Why Today’s People Preserving Roses?
The point of preserving a rose or other flower is to keep the flower in the shape and condition as it is. A rose is going to darken and rotten if it is not preserved. Why people these days preserving a rose anyway?
Well, the answer is mostly the sentimental one: to preserve the memory. Rose is the symbol of affection. Many men give rose to the one they love as the symbol of their affection. It can be given in special moment such as birthday, anniversary, engagement, and so on. That is why the point of preserving the rose is as reminder of the special moment.
Women love to preserve the rose or the other kind of flower they got from their loved ones so that they will be able to look at the flower in its original shape forever. Sometimes, women also have rose bouquet for wedding. They, too, try to preserve this bouquet for goods by hanging roses upside down or by using sand, microwave, and even iron.
Methods to Preserve Roses and Other Flowers
As stated before, there are so many ways of preserving a rose or flower. Back then in the ancient time or in the middle ages, flower preserving was simply done by air drying the flower or by placing the flower under direct sunlight. Now, there are more technology we have and there are more equipment that we can use to preserve flowers. Among them are:
- Using Oven
Using oven to preserve flower is one of the easiest methods we have today. It is quick and simple. The plus side of this method is the time saving. This method is really quick to do. However, the minus side of this method is that if you are not careful, there can be some discoloration of the rose.
So, instead of the beautiful red color, you can get brown rose. It can be prevented by strictly watching the temperature of the oven and also the timing. You can execute this method by preheating the oven to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and then place the roses inside the oven. Let the door of the oven wide open and then leave the roses inside the oven for three hours.
- Using Silica Gel
Silica gel is used to absorb the moisture out of something. It is perfect to preserve a rose. All you need to do is buying silica gel and sealable container. The plus side of this method is that you can keep the color of the rose and even the smell of the rose well.
However, the minus side is that silica gel can be a bit expensive and you need a lot of them to preserve flower. It is not the cheapest way to preserve flower, obviously.
- Air Drying
The method of air drying is probably one of the oldest methods in flower preserving history. The method is done by hanging the rose upside down in a cool and dark place. The plus side of the method is that it can keep the shape and color of the rose well.
However, the minus side of this method is that it takes a long time to make the flower ready.
- Using Borax
If you can use chemical substance well, you can use borax to preserve the rose you love. This method has its plus side on its safer feature. Borax is at least non-hazardous so that it is safe for your pet and children.
The minus side of this method is sometimes borax has its strong smell and it overpowers the natural smell of the rose.
Now you have read everything that you need to know about preserved roses. Indeed, it is great to have rose preserved for many reasons including the sentimental ones. To keep the roses fresh and beautiful, you need to master the methods of preservation well. Make sure that you can master them all well and you can preserve as many roses as you please.