When you receive a particularly beautiful or meaningful bouquet, of course you want it to last forever. Our customers often ask whether they can freeze their floral arrangements in San Francisco, CA in order to preserve them longer.

The short answer is no—at least not in your typical household refrigerator alone. In order to preserve flowers so they’ll last when you take them out of the freezer, you’ll need to freeze-dry them.

Why can’t I stick my flowers in a regular freezer?

Flowers are full of moisture, which will freeze when they are placed in a regular freezer. If you just want to leave the flowers in the freezer forever, then you can use a household freezer—but if you want to take them out to admire them later, you’ll run into problems. The internal moisture in those flowers will damage them when they thaw.

If you want to freeze your flowers, you must first remove all the moisture. Only then can you get perfectly-preserved flowers. The solution? Freeze-drying.

How to freeze flowers in San Francisco, CA

When you freeze-dry flowers, all the water content is removed so you end up with a perfectly dried specimen. The machine will freeze your flowers, then remove the water content in a vacuum so that solid ice can be turned into a vapor without going through the liquid phase. That ensures that your flowers will emerge unscathed.

Note that freeze-drying equipment is expensive and can take up a significant amount of room, so if you’re not planning on regularly freeze-drying floral arrangements, you may wish to just borrow one for significant bouquets.

Here’s how to get a perfectly freeze-dried bouquet:

1. Cut the stems: First, cut the stems on a diagonal, which will allow them to soak up water more readily. Strip the leaves and let them absorb water for at least 24 hours. Consider cutting the stems down as far as possible, as they take longer to completely freeze-dry.
2. Prepare the freeze-dryer: Next, set the temperature on your freeze-dryer to -5 degrees Fahrenheit. To make sure that it holds the temperature, turn the vacuum pump on for a moment. This will seal the door.
3. Load the flowers: Now you can load the flowers into the freeze-drying chamber. Be sure to turn off any interior lights and close the door. If you have a blackout cover, place that on the freeze-dryer at this time, then turn on the vacuum pump for a few seconds to seal the door. Turn the pump off and allow your flowers to freeze at -5 degrees for 24 hours.
4. Freeze-drying: Finally, turn on the vacuum pump. Every day, increase the temperature by 5 degrees until you reach 20 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of 10 days. When you reach 10 days, check your flowers. If they feel cold to the touch, they’re not quite done—turn the vacuum pump on again and freeze for another 48 hours, or until they’re done. If they aren’t cold, you’re all set.

The Delicate Daisy – House of Flowers in San Francisco, CA specializes in bouquets that you’ll want to preserve forever. Call us today to get your own!