Cooperative Living January 2014 - 26

GARDEN MUSE by Paula Steers Brown, Contributing Columnist
pressed-flower
POWER
I
f your sweetheart gives you a rose, you
want that flower and that feeling to
last. Haven't we all tucked away a
flower from a special occasion?
Pressing plants not only preserves them
but also transforms them into a twodimensional
plane where details of form
become more fully apparent - almost
like looking through a microscope.
Pressed specimens mimic classic botanical
prints if displayed in separate silhouettes,
but an exuberant variety of blooms
and leaves offers infinite combinations for
craft projects. And every season can
bloom at once in happy harmony.
The best flowers to pick for pressing
are the ones just coming into bloom.
Collect plants at the driest time of the day
after the dew has gone - early afternoon
is ideal. They cannot be damp. Verbena,
larkspur, cosmos, delphinium, pansies,
violas, alyssum and just about any herb
from the garden press well.
The rose is the classic romantic flower
to preserve, and the old-fashioned single
type makes a perfect pressed flower.
Because of the thickness of multi-petaled
roses, they must be taken apart for pressing
and then reassembled. Small rosebuds
are charming and add delicacy -
slice them in half to reduce their bulk
and get double the bloom.
Hydrangea is another wonderful
choice with the four-petal sections
pressed individually. Some of the loveliest
additions, however, can be simple
wildflowers from the meadow, bright
yellow buttercups, or Queen Anne's lace.
Leaves and grass add texture, while
soft tendrils make arrangements more
graceful.
Gray foliage retains its color and provides
nice contrast. Collect material from
hedgerows, woodlands, a mountain trail,
the seashore, or any place you find interesting.
Simple layouts of botanical specimens
on paper make beautiful field journals,
plant diaries, or flower albums for
environmental
enthusiasts
and
stir
fond memories
of
nature
walks.
The pressed flower keepsake wedding invitation is by Louise Holappa. Brides
might want to press flowers from the wedding bouquet, the mother's corsage, or
the church or reception arrangements as treasured momentos of the special day.
24
Patience
used to be
the watchword
for
this hobby,
but today
there are
plenty of
shortcuts.
I've known
crafters
who pressed flowers on a large scale to
have towers of telephone books full of drying
plant parts in every corner of the room
for weeks at a time.
To speed up the process, designers have
been experimenting with dehydration in
the microwave oven as a first step to hasten
traditional pressing or as a whole new
method. There are special microwave plant
presses, but it is easy to fashion your own
with two pieces of hardboard and alternating
layers of newsprint (10 sheets thick)
and blotting paper on each side of the plant
layers. Some people weight down the layers
with plates stacked atop the board, but
some prefer to tie the stack with elastic
bands. You can process about 10 layers of
plant material this way if the pieces are all
reasonably thin. Thicker blooms, though,
such as lavender, need fewer layers per
bundle, as do plants with thick stems.
Microwave on medium temperature (never
on high) for short segments of time - no
more than 2 minutes - for even and safe
drying. Resist the temptation to unwrap the
bundle and check results until you have
allowed for a 20-minute cool down. Keep
records of drying times for various types of
blooms. Practitioners of microwave pressing
claim bright, clear colors in addition to
fast results.
Once materials are dry, store them in
sealed bags to protect them from humidity
and light. Some crafters add a few crystals
of silica gel to the bag to retain dryness; to
repel insects, insert a bay leaf, a moth ball
or even a sprinkle of flea powder so that
your pretty petals will not be munched and
reduced to dust.
Aside from the flower press and blotting
paper, little equipment is required for this
craft; long-handled tweezers and toothpicks
or wooden skewers for delicate application
Cooperative Living/January 2014
Cooperative Living January 2014

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