Drying Flowers with Silica: How to Trap Time in Tupperware
- chezleydesigns
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 20 hours ago
AKA: A Field Guide for Beautiful Goblins and Their Weird Flower Collections
Listen. I didn’t mean to start hoarding blooms like a Victorian ghost who just discovered Tupperware. But somewhere between “I’ll just press this daisy” and “I need to immortalize this camellia IMMEDIATELY,” I became the neighborhood’s unofficial floral taxidermist.
You know that moment when you see a perfect flower and your brain goes: “I could save that forever”? Yeah. Same. Now I have bins of silica, tweezers I treat better than my actual tweezers, and an unhealthy obsession with the floral section at Trader Joe's.
This post is for you if:
You’ve ever stolen a camellia off a neighbor’s hedge like a gremlin with a soft heart.
You made eye contact with a rose at Home Depot and felt the sudden urge to preserve its soul.
You, too, have a stash of jars full of mystery silica and forgotten petals that whisper to you at night.
Welcome to the silica cult. Here's how I keep flowers looking alive long after they’re dead.
What Even Is Silica Drying for Flowers?
Drying with silica gel is the high-maintenance, high-reward method of preserving flowers. You bury the blooms in the powder, wait 2–10 days (depending on how juicy they are), then scream with joy (or grief) when you check on them.
It’s like a tiny time capsule. A floral cryochamber. A Tupperware séance.
Silica gel (a fine powder or sand-like crystal, not actual gel) preserves shape, color, and just a little bit of the flower’s soul. Unlike air drying—which leaves you with crispy ghosts of the original—silica keeps the bloom’s vibrance and form. This is what I use for epoxy art, specimen domes, and anything I want to haunt me forever (in a good way).
Sidebar: To date, I have dried a bumblebee, a cicada, a snake, a crab my uncle found in Costa Rica, mushrooms, a stink bug, a butterfly, and a lizard. All in silica. All dead before I found them, because ethics. We don’t kill for art here. Ever.
Mistakes I’ve Made (So You Don’t Have To)
YOU WILL BE FULL OF REGRET IF YOU...
Use the microwave. You saw that TikTok. I know. Just—don’t.
Forget to label your containers. You will play “What Day Did I Start This” and you will lose.
Try to preserve already-mushy flowers. No amount of silica will reverse rot. It’s not witchcraft. (Yet.)
Pick a rain-soaked bloom and toss it into silica like a fool. Moisture = rot. Rot = sadness.
Attempt to dry Hibiscus.
Pick the most challenging flower to dry on your first try.
The Real Useful Stuff
How to ACTUALLY Dry a Flower with Silica
What you’ll need:
Silica gel
Containers
Patience
Extras: label maker or just a sharpie and some tape
Silica gel – Get the kind with color-changing crystals. It’ll tell you when it’s had enough moisture and needs a bake to recharge. Buy from Amazon, craft stores, or wherever you source your gremlin supplies. CRYSTALS, not beads.
Containers – Anything with a tight lid. Takeout box? Perfect. Old Tupperware? Ideal. Just make sure it’s big enough to hold your bloom with a buffer of silica all around.
Finally, the How-To Steps:
Cut the flower fresh-ish — ideally in the morning before the sun cooks it.
Trim the stem and remove any leaves you don’t want preserved.
Pour silica into your container to make a gentle bed.
Nestle the flower bloom-side up or down depending on shape (usually up).
Bury it gently — spoon the silica in like you’re tucking in a baby bird. Make sure it gets between petals (looking at you, roses).
Seal the container and place it somewhere cool and dry.
Label with the flower type + date — or don’t. Just know you’ll forget.
Check back in 2–10 days — or months, if you’re like me. If it feels dry and papery (not damp), you nailed it!
Tips to Mitigate Panic
Use fine grain silica for delicate blooms.
Use a small paintbrush to gently dust off crystals.
Flip the flower upside down, hold it by the stem, and tap the back of your hand to dislodge silica. Works better than shaking like a maniac.
Never seal dried flowers in airtight containers unless you’re 100% sure they’re dry. Add a pinch of silica to prevent future regrets.
LABEL. YOUR. CONTAINERS. That is all.
Ranking Flowers
From “yes absolutely” to “never again”
Top Tier (Dry Like a Dream):
Roses – Always reliable. Tight petals dry gorgeously.
Zinnias – Like colorful paper lanterns. Surprisingly sturdy.
Camellias – Soft, romantic, and true to color.
Sea Lavender – Already dry? Basically cheating.
Snapdragons – Petal drama in the best way.
Billy Balls (Craspedia) – Bright, sturdy, immortal.
Mid Tier (Challenge, Still Worth It):
Dahlias – Gorgeous but fussy. Centers love to stay damp.
Hydrangeas – Best if air-dried a bit first.
Marigolds – Pungent, sturdy, and still vibrant.
Ranunculus – Delicate heartbreakers. Handle like glass.
Daffodils – Can work, but some are very papery and prone to collapse.
Clematis - Kinda brittle, less exciting dry than on vine.
Why Did I Do This (Regrets):
Peonies – Rot or shatter. No in-between.
Lilies – Floppy drama queens. Stain everything.
Tulips – Fresh: angels. Dried: demons.
Sunflowers – Rot out of spite. Must be pre-dried and treated like royalty.
Hibiscus – Gorgeous liars. Paper-thin chaos.
Iris – Complex structure + paper petals = emotional damage.
It’s Fine, Probably.
There’s no wrong way to begin. You’ll have flops. You’ll accidentally turn a bouquet into compost. You’ll get silica in your coffee. And one day, you’ll pull a perfect zinnia out of the powder and feel like a god.
That’s the whole game.
Optional Chaotic Additions:
Borrow your neighbor’s blooms with vague permission.
Borrow your neighbor’s blooms with actual permission—then have a different neighbor yell at you for it.
Make a spreadsheet of your flower experiments. Immediately abandon it.
Name your best dried blooms.
Make specimen ID tags: collection date, Latin name, chaotic nickname, and wild origin story.
Closing Thoughts
Not everything can be preserved. But some things can. And that might be enough.
Or, if you don't want to go through this whole process, but want your flowers preserved you can always contact me for a custom order.
Currently Blooming in the Garden
The clematis are back and showier than ever. I think the two varieties are in a competition to see who can bloom better. 'Polish Spirit' is definitely winning. It’s chaos. I love it here.
Unrelated But Vital Thoughts
Scully barked at a mushroom that I foraged. Not sure who was more surprised.
Wondering if my resin pieces are sentient yet.
Trader Joe’s flowers are a trap and I will fall for them every. single. time.
About ChezleyDesigns
ChezleyDesigns is the handcrafted, unique archive of a chaotic resin artist with a hoarding habit and an eye for the ephemeral. I make one-of-a-kind epoxy art, botanical resin keepsakes, and original stickers that celebrate the weird, the rebellious, and the “wait, is that a cicada in there?” moments.
Everything I create is made with chaos and care — using foraged petals, shed wings, strange seed pods, nature’s leftovers, and ethically-gifted bugs from people who love me (and have strong stomachs). These are nature-inspired art pieces, preserved flower creations, and frozen in time keepsakes. Sometimes useful. Always intentional.
Looking for resin decor, botanical art, or weird handmade gifts? Wander through chezleydesigns.com or stalk me on Instagram @chezleydesigns.
Donations welcome: cool bones, seed pods, ethically-dead insects, and other found oddities. No pressure. No live bugs. Obviously.
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