I Started To Press/ Dry Flowers, Plants, and Leaves

I saw a bunch of neat DIY projects that involve either dried or pressed flowers, plants, and leaves so I started to dry and press various flowers and plants.

I found a rather thick notebook in a random drawer which I am using for the pressing. And I am drying the plants and flowers for other projects by hanging them upside-down in my room.

If you happen to dry or press flowers, do you have any advice on making them turn out the best?

I'm not really sure how mine have turned out yet because I have to leave them for about a month.

If anyone has any advice on how to dry and press flowers or plants let me know.

CeliaC

I haven't pressed flowers since I was a child, but I recall that it involved stacking extra weight on top of the pressing book.

@CeliaC Yes, you have to put a weight on the book so the flowers, leaves, and plants get pressed properly.

abruder808

if you want to just dry the flowers and not press them, you can hang them upside down in a warm and dry area, like over a radiator! i did this a few years ago with a coworker of mine (i work at a florist). the only thing you have to beware of is losing petals

@abruder808 That's a great idea! Thank you for passing it along. It's cool that you work as a florist. I love to do flower arrangements and to look up the meaning behind flowers. What are some of the things you do as a florist? I'm just curious.

abruder808

@MoonlightSonata no problem! i love any and everything to do with flowers I work at an independent business, so i really do whatever my boss needs me to do, lol. When I was still training I spend most of my time cleaning flowers when we got them from the wholesalers, cleaning the store, taking orders, customer service work, etc. now though I spend a lot of time as a designer, I do wrapped bouquets, vased arrangements, wedding centerpieces, wedding handhelds, boutonnieres. very rarely I do funeral work, and almost never corsages.

@abruder808 That's really interesting.

Floral arrangements, centerpieces, vased arrangements, and bouquets are always fun to make! I do a lot of arrangements with fake flowers but occasionally I will do some with real flowers as well.

CeliaC

@abruder808 how does one go about "cleaning" flowers, and did you learn any really interesting tricks for working with flowers?

abruder808

@CeliaC cleaning flowers mostly involves pulling off leaves and trimming the bottoms, though some breeds are more involved than that. And once the leaves are cleaned off, the bucket/vase/container they’re being held in has to be emptied and cleaned every 3 days to prevent the growth of bacteria or mold. Every time the water is changed, the ends should be trimmed again as well. One trick I’ve learned when basing arrangements is criss-crossing the stems! Essentially you just pick out the stems you want in the arrangement and put them in the vase one at a time, crossing the stems as you go. Once you have it all in, the crossed stems make it easier to maneuver the flowers into the position you want them to be in to make the arrangement look fuller. This works especially well with rose arrangements.

@abruder808 Those are some great flower arranging tips. Thank you for sharing them.

UKGuy

I was a wildflower nerd when I was a kid. I had a wild flower identification book and I knew virtually every British wild flower. Whenever we went for a walk in the country, I would proudly tell my parents the name of every wild flower we passed. When I got a little older, I started photographing them. Even now, if you go for a drive with me, you better be prepared for the sudden screech of brakes if we pass by some interesting wild flowers. I just think they are one of nature's greatest gifts. This photo is Toadflax, one of my favorite wildflowers.

@UKGuy I completely agree! I love learning about plants, flowers, trees, rocks, minerals, gems, animals, and other aspects of nature.

I'm especially interested in this because I like to make natural products like lip balm, shampoo, deodorant, and so on. It is nice to know what is out in nature that I can use to make something with.

I'm also just interested in learning about various aspects of nature in general though. I've been trying to learn more about weather patterns and star mapping as of late.

CeliaC

@UKGuy I do the same thing, not with wildflowers specifically, but I have a family history of botany and nature is ASFJAKLSDHFGKLDFHGLKADASDHFJAHFDJKA