Preserved Arrangements

The value of preserved arrangement is only beginning to be realized. Drying of flowers is an ancient preservation technique. They look like the fresh version and can often replace fresh arrangements in corporate environments. Someone who has made a success of this is Barbara Scott.

Flowers are dried by immersing each bloom in silica gel, a nontoxic, dried compound of sodium silicate and sulfuric acid that removes all moisture from the flowers without changing its natural shape. The bloom looks very similar to the original, and will not wilt, fade, or crumble provided it is not exposed to too much humidity or handling. The typical corporate headquarters is the perfect environment.

The key to satisfaction, as Scott hastens to explain to any new customer, is good air-conditioning. Placed in a hospitable, dry environment, one of her $400 to $1,400 arrangements will look fresh and beautiful for up to a year. Sometimes a bit too fresh, Scott notes with a laugh:”Once in a while a client will forget to tell her housekeeper that an arrangement is preserved. It gets watered, and that’s the end of it.”