Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pressed Flowers
Another method of preserving flowers is pressing. Bouquets that have been in a vase for 24 hours
are perfect candidates for pressing because they have been hydrated.
Choose the flowers that you will be pressing and arrange them carefully. This likely means laying
them flat, without any overlapping. Lay your arrangement on paper. Wax paper, printer paper, and
even coffee filters can be good options. Just make sure that you avoid direct contact with anything
with a pattern, or the flower will have the pattern pressed into it.
To press in a book, simply put the paper and flower into the pages, close it, and then set something
on the topic. You can fill an entire book with flowers. Just keep them about an eighth of an inch
apart so the roses don't squish into and imprint on the daisies.
Books work for a while, but if you plan to press frequently, consider buying or making a dedicated flower
press.
(Photo courtesy of Brian Boucheron)
It will take several weeks for the flowers to dry fully, so if you want to speed it up a little, consider
a microwave press kit. There are relatively inexpensive models available, or you can make one
from a cardboard-newsprint-flower-newsprint-cardboard sandwich, secured with rubber bands.
Microwave briefly on a medium setting, and then remove them to cool with a book or something
weighing them down. Repeat heating and cooling until they are completely dry, or you can simply
