Vol. 1, Issue 10, Part E (2015)

Abstract
Drying and preserving flowers makes sense economically because ordinary flowers will only last about a week and dried flowers will last indefinitely. Drying flowers is such a rewarding experience because it is easy to do, the flowers usually dry remarkably well, Flowers can be preserved in several different ways, by hanging, pressing or with various drying agents. The objective of this study is to identify varieties of flowers and material which lend themselves for drying & apply feasible and scientific drying techniques for selected flowers and raw material. Eight commonly available flowers like carnation, chrysanthemum, daisy, gerbera, gladioli, marigold, orchid and rose were selected for applying drying techniques. These flowers were exposed to various drying techniques like Air Drying, water drying, Embedding technique (Sand, Borax, Silica gel), Micro oven Drying, Hot Air Oven Drying, Pressing and glecerenizing. From the results of the study it is found that certain techniques are suitable only to some flowers. Of all the methods tried, the method which is economically and commercially viable is embedding in sand, silica gel and Borax. The flowers dried in these techniques were used for three dimensional arrangements. The other method in which flowers are used for greeting cards and book marks and other creative arts is pressing.