Flowers may be ephemeral, but that didn’t stop mankind from attempting to preserve the beauty of flowers. The preservation of flowers dates back thousands of years where they were found in Egyptian tombs. One of the earliest methods of preserving flowers are through drying. However, air drying flowers causes them to lose their vibrancy, on top of becoming brittle. To combat these problems, new technologies to preserve flowers has been created, giving birth to a new type of flower, the preserved fresh flower.
Preserved flowers look and feel like fresh-cut flowers. They retain the integrity of fresh flowers and have more colours and last longer. The preserved fresh flowers are made from fresh-cut flowers. The selection of raw material is very stringent. Each flower is carefully selected and cut at the peak of their bloom. Other requirement includes having tough texture, thick petals and little moisture. The leaves of stems of the roses also need to be flexible and shapely.
After selecting the flowers, they are then treated by a series of complex processes such as dehydration, decolourisation, drying and dyeing. It is inevitable that the flower treated will lose its natural pigments, thus becoming translucent during its preservation process. In order to give the flowers a radiant colour, dyes are carefully added to the rehydration solution. This results in the myriad of colours of preserved flowers available, from classic red, dusty pink, electric blue and even rainbow-coloured! Lastly, the treated flowers, leaves and stems are put together by puncturing, pasting and sewing.
Whimsical Emporium then uses these preserved flowers sourced from our suppliers to craft them into bouquets and bloom boxes! There are many types of preserved flowers, such as roses, David Austin Roses, hydrangeas and carnations. We often incorporate these flowers with dried flowers in our creations.
There are many advantages of preserved flowers. Firstly, preserved flowers are made from real plants, thus being able to retain the integrity of fresh cut flowers with the help of modern technology. Preserved flowers also have a more consistent and vibrant colour. Most importantly, they have a long lifespan, in which they can last for up to years if well taken care of. Last but not least, they do not need to be watered, and cared for daily like a fresh living plant. (Although these preserved flowers do not need as much tender loving care as compared to its fresh counterparts, it does still require care such that they can last longer.) More information on preserved flower care can be found here.