Home And Family

To preserve flowers they should be dipped in melted paraffin which should be just hot enough to maintain the fluidity. The flowers should be dipped one at a time, held by the stalks and moved about for an instant to get rid of air bubbles. Fresh cut flowers, free from moisture, are said to make excellent specimens when treated in this way.

There are other methods listed for preserving flowers as well. I have been giving preserving roses with wax some thought and while never having tried wax on rose blooms (not artificial blooms), I question being able to apply a finish. My experience finishing cloth, lightweight print cloth as well as heavy duck causes me to make this statement.

The heat necessary to melt the wax plus the vehicle (solvent) would be harmful to the petals. Application and even distribution of the compound by dipping. or brushing would present a problem as tension, roller coating would be harmful. Perhaps a starch or other clear film would be the base product you are looking for instead of wax?

Here again solvents would enter into the picture except for starch which could have a water vehicle, as well as another base product which I am thinking about which has been used for sizing other than glue.

This may be looked at as negative regarding the above because but there might be someone who has formulated a wax application and in the meantime I’ll give it some more thought.

Enclosed some catalogs find a method for preserving rose blooms by waxing. Don’t know if it is successful as we have yet to try the process. Cut rose buds that show a little color, allowing as much stem as possible. Dip a part of the lower stem in hot wax and cool. Wrap entire stem and bud securely in waxed paper. Be sure the wrapping is airtight.

Then store in a dark, cool place (not below 35 ?Fahrenheit). As much as six months later if you want flowers, remove paper, cut wax dipped end off and place stems in tepid water.

Now you can remove the confusion in your mind on the topic of seed catalogs Beginners and experts turn to us as their source for information zone10.com.