Freeze Dried Tropical Flowers

Arrangements

• Freeze drying is used for special-occasion tropical flowers such as those in a wedding bouquet, anniversary arrangement or commemorative flowers. The arrangement is separated into individual flowers. Each flower goes through the process of freeze drying, is sprayed with a sealant and the arrangement is reassembled. Special care is taken to make sure that the right flowers are assembled in the right bouquet.

Orchids

• Cattleya orchids with the large ruffled petals and size freeze dry well. Orchids bloom in a range of colors, often the petals are edged in a contrasting color or the color deepens towards the throat of the flower. Since the flowers are freeze-dried individually, it is time consuming, and expensive, to freeze dry small orchids such as vanda orchids.

Anthurium

• These flowers have what looks like a brightly colored single petal wrapped around a spadix, a long tubular shaped spike from 3 to 4 inches long. The petal is actually a heart-shaped colored bract or differently shaped leaf that's from 3 to 6 inches long. The bract is red, pink, white or orange and is sometimes streaked or edged in green. The spadix is yellow, orange or red and contrasts with the bract.

Gardenias

• Gardenias have waxy white petals and a heavenly scent. Of course that scent is lost through the freeze- drying process. The flower is about 3 inches across and looks somewhat like a rose with fewer petals. Gardenias have short stems to where they're attached to the branch of the bush, so they're not often used in arrangements. They are, however, used in corsages and wedding bouquets. Since white often dries to a dusty beige when the gardenia is traditionally dried, freeze drying is a good choice to preserve its pure white color.

Ginger

• Yes, the ginger rhizome you buy at the grocery store to flavor oriental dishes is the same ginger that flowers. You can plant a good size piece of the ginger and it will grow into a plant and flower under optimum conditions. The flowers are born on a straight tall spike. It looks a bit like a snapdragons. Ginger blooms in white, pink and purple.