Question
I just got married and had a bouquet of orchids.  I took off all of the flowers (I had to travel internationally to get back home from the wedding) and am trying to figure out how to dry the flowers.  Can you walk me through this process?
Thank you!

Answer
Rebecca, success in drying them will depend upon the substance of the flowers. Flowers of heavy substance such as cattleyas, cymbidiums, or lady slippers do not dry out well, which is essential for preservation.  Flowers from phalaenopsis, oncidiums, and other delicate flowers dry out much better. I would recommend pressing them while drying them out.  This is the process used to preserve herbarium specimans.  Place the flower sprays between sheets of absorbant papers and press the papers and flowers between stacks of books or other heavy objects.  This should be left over several weeks.  The drying will produce some fading in the color of the flowers as many of the pigments are water soluble.