Drying Peonies in Silica Sand - Parts of This Project Went Very Wrong

Peonies are one of my favorite Spring blooms. My only complaint is they don't bloom very long.

I decided to try preserving peony flowers in silica sand. I saw this project 100 years ago on the Martha Stewart Living TV show. I'll admit, I loved that show.

My first attempt wasn't great, but I figured out the trick is to use freshly opened blooms.

Here's the link to the silica sand I used:

Thanks for watching.

#peonyflowertutorial #peonies

[jaysea]

This is very timely. I live in zone 6b in the USA and can’t wait for my peonies to sprout, which should be soon. I waited with bated breath to see the second results and there it was………💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾!!! Thank you. Peace-

[organizedone]

Definitely going to try this! I have loads of peonies! It would be so lovely to be able to preserve some!

[everydaygardeningtips]

Thank you for sharing the fails too Sue!

[JoAnnBlondin]

Haha...and That's a good thing! Well done. Great tips too. I dry mine in the fridge. They lose some colour they way I do it, so delighted to see how vibrant these turned out.

[milliebutterfly]

How many times can the silica be used?

[heyladyd]

How do you prep the peonies to dry, in regards of pests? In VA the black ants and some aphids are living in them. I would like to dry them but not worry about the hitchhikers they could bring inside.

[pastuh]

Someone said.. put in to Silican Sand and in microwave for 1 minute..
Interesting if you tested such method :)
If works.. so no need wait for too long :D