The idea of a rose is timeless. The flower symbolizes all manner of pleasant things, from love, beauty, to youth. For millions of people from around the world have clipped roses and displayed them in their homes, and enjoyed them for their aroma and color. The idea of roses is timeless, yes, but they are not. You can, with a little effort, work to make them last forever by drying them, however. Once you know how to do it, you'll ask yourself why you didn't before, it's so simple.

Why dry roses? Because fresh roses inevitably must die, and, if not dried, will be lost irrevocably. Drying roses maintains their beauty. With a little patience and less expense you can preserve exquisitely dried roses that look just as marvelous in vases as fresh ones do. And, you'll be able to cherish them for a much longer time.

There two most widely used ways to dry roses are with air and with sand. Air drying is the easier of the two and requires only a good set of pruning sheers, a strip of wire, a clothes hanger and a dark place to hang the blooms to dry. First cut the stem off of the rose, as close to the roses head you can manage. Now you need to poke the wire into the rose head. The wire should be about 7 inches long. Then take the end of the wire and wrap it around the hanger so that the rose is hanging upside down.

Repeat this process until you have as many roses as you want or the hanger is full. Then, hang the hanger in the dry, dark spot and wait for the roses to dry. This will take somewhere around two to three weeks. Air drying requires little more than patience and some spare space, but you will be pleased with the results.

Sand drying is a bit more difficult, but works a bit better as well. For this method you need to cut the rose when it is at its prime, and then trim all but about an inch from the stem. Once you have done this, you need to take a piece of wire and stick it through the stem into the rose's head. Then, take the rose and stick it into a box full of sand that is deep enough for the rose to stand up in. The sand must be white. Once the rose is set on the sand, very gently begin to cover the rose itself with sand. If you like, you can place multiple rose heads in a single box.

The goal is to use the sand to both maintain the shape of the rose and to draw out its moisture. Once every rose is well covered, take the box to an area suitable for drying and let it sit until they are all dry. When they are you can empty out the sand. Be careful! It is very easy to shatter a dried rose while emptying the sand! Compared to air drying, this is more difficult, but the results are even more impressive.

Other than air and sand drying, there is wax or desiccant drying. To dry roses in this manner is bit more complicated. Or you can simply place a rose between the pages of a book and wait for it to dry. However you manage to dry your roses, you'll be producing wonderful, useful dried flowers, which are perfect as gifts, for home decorating, artwork, and many other things. Use your imagination and start preserving roses' beauty!

Also as you start drying roses, don't be discouraged if your first attempts are not perfect. Like any other art form, the drying of roses can take a bit of practice. Keep at it, and reap the rewards.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as freshcut flowers at http://www.freshcutflowersdelivered.com