Flower Preservation: Pressed Flowers

A heavy book is all that is necessary to create beautifully pressed flowers.

Pressing flowers is a fun pastime that requires relatively little effort on the preserver’s part. Not only is the process very enjoyable, but the flowers can be used in a variety of projects such as note cards and stationary. Most any type of flower or leaf can be pressed, but flowers with thick centers such as sunflowers or Echinacea do not turn out as well. On the other hand, flowers like pansies are so easy it’s incredible.

Flower presses are readily available, but not necessary to successfully press flowers. A telephone book, encyclopedia or other heavy book will work just as well. I have a large Audubon book that I press all my flowers in and as it’s bigger than most flower presses, I can press many flowers at one time.

It is best to pick flowers on a dry day to avoid extra moisture accumulation. To begin, lay a sheet of paper in the open encyclopedia (or whatever large book you might be using), to protect the book’s pages. Arrange the flowers on the paper, placing them carefully to avoid overlapping edges. The emphasis here is to imagine what it will like when it is pressed. Petals that end up folded during pressing will remain folded forever. Place another sheet of paper over the flowers and carefully close the book.

One heavy book is usually enough to successfully press flowers, particularly if the flowers are being pressed near the back of the book, so most of the book’s weight is pressing on them. However, it never hurts to place a few additional books on top to ensure enough weight. Flowers are usually fully pressed within a week, though a few may take longer. If you are unsure, it is always better to leave the flowers a little longer. It won’t harm to blossoms no matter how long they sit in the press.