In today’s post we’ll talk about how to dry silver dollar eucalyptus so you can enjoy it in your home for as long as you like!
After trying to find some good faux silver dollar eucalyptus for a few months, I just gave up and decided to stick to the real stuff from now on, as much as possible. I had Chris stop in at our local flower shop a few weeks ago to see if they had any and he ended up buying way too much. You can bet you didn’t hear a single complaint out of me though! I enjoyed it fresh for quite awhile, but then I decided to experiment with a few different ways to dry it, since I had so much of it. Here are my results!
For general eucalyptus care guidelines and best practices, read this post: How to Care for Fresh Eucalyptus
Different Methods to Dry Silver Dollar Eucalyptus
If you love the look of eucalyptus, it’s definitely worth your while to buy fresh instead of the fake stuff. The fresh stuff is just so beautiful and no fake can even come close to comparing. Also, of course, the real eucalyptus smells amazing! Once you realize that you can dry your eucalyptus and have it displayed for as long as you like, why wouldn’t you go for the real?
There are a few different methods that you can use to dry silver dollar eucalyptus and the good news is that they’re all super easy.
Method 1
The first option is to take your eucalyptus stems and hang them upside down to dry. This causes your stems to dry very straight. At first I thought I didn’t like this look so much because I really enjoy how the eucalyptus stems droop gracefully when they’re fresh, but then I used some dried in some photos of a kitchen we were shooting recently for a local cabinet company and I thought they looked great in a little vase next to the sink.
Method 2
Let’s call this method “the hydrangea method” because it’s basically the same thing that you do when you’re drying hydrangeas in the early fall.
What you do is put a very small amount of water in the bottom of a vase, maybe just a few inches deep, then place your eucalyptus stems in that water. Leave the stems in there and allow them to slowly dry as the water evaporates. What you’ll end up with is perfectly dried eucalyptus.
After a bit of deliberation, I’ve decided that this is my favourite method. It seems to allow the eucalyptus to keep its natural shape the best.
Method 3
This last method is kind of a hybrid of the two. Keep your eucalyptus in fresh water, changing it every few days like you would for cut flowers. When you notice the eucalyptus starting to naturally dry on their own, go ahead and discard the water and allow them to finish drying right in the vase. You’ll be able to see very clearly when the eucalyptus leaves start to dry on their own because they turn a much lighter shade of green when they dry. You’ll start to see a leaf or two that will be half light green and half darker green.
I found that this method of completely removing the water caused the eucalyptus to dry a bit too quickly and it got extra wilty-looking. I like this look for fall arrangements, I think, but overall I still prefer method 2, or method 1 in a pinch. 🙂
Once your eucalyptus is dry, it will be lighter in color and the leaves will be a little wavy, rather than completely smooth, but it will still be pretty! Have you tried drying eucalyptus before? Did you use one of these methods or did you do it another way?
Don’t forget to pin this idea so you’ll have it the next time you pick up some fresh eucalyptus!
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.