Petal perfection

When early explorers travelled the four corners of the world in search of botanical treasures and plant knowledge, they faced many challenges collecting and transporting live plant material. In the 19th century, the development of the Wardian case — a glazed box that held soil and water — enhanced the survival rate of live plants on long sea journeys.

But highly detailed botanical illustrations also served as a visual record for early botanists and scientists to study plants from distant parts of the world. The technique of pressing and drying all the parts of individual plants on paper made it possible to preserve plant specimens.

Today, herbariums around the world, including those at Manitoba Museum and the University of Manitoba, house extensive collections of pressed, dried plants stored in specialized, climate-controlled conditions. Scientists use these specimens to determine the rarity of species and understand environmental changes.

Enduring art form

Flower pressing is an enduring art form practised by plant lovers throughout the centuries. It offers creative possibilities for preserving the beauty of the garden.

Mavis Garrioch grows many plants in her St. James garden specifically for preserving. One of her greatest pleasures is to create beautiful arrangements from pressed and dried flowers and foliage gathered fresh from her garden. Used in pressed picture designs, the miniature gardens she creates capture a moment in time but give joy for much longer.

“My passion for pressing flowers emerged from my love of gardening, basically,” says Garrioch. For several years she maintained a large backyard garden planted with perennials. Gradually she began including container gardens, which she planted with a wide variety of annuals.

“Once I got into container gardening, I was able to choose from a greater variety of flowers,” she says. “Perennials are terrific but many of the flowers don’t lend themselves to pressing as well as annual flowers do.”

But that said, some of Garrioch’s favoured perennials for drying and pressing include columbine, phlox, lavender, hydrangea, daisies and pearly everlasting, as well as ferns, grasses and leaves of all kinds. The list of annuals Garrioch presses is much longer, but her favourites include pansies, salvia, larkspur, geraniums, calibrachoa, petunias, bidens, coleus, celosia, cosmos, marigolds, baby’s breath, verbena, Nigella love-in-a-mist and Queen Anne’s lace flower.

By-the-book process

Garrioch owns wooden flower presses but prefers what she refers to as the old-fashioned method. “I use books. Wooden presses don’t hold many flowers,” she says. “I wish I hadn’t thrown out so many phone books.”

Let’s walk through the steps of how Garrioch presses flowers.

“I’ll start with pansies because they press really well,” she says.

“First, I go into my garden early in the morning and collect several pansies, which I put into a basket. I try to clip as much of the stem as I can. The flowers must be as fresh as possible and not past their prime. Make sure all the petals are even and spread out. Turn each pansy over and place it face down on a piece of absorbent blotting paper in a thick book with large pages. I might fill a whole page with pansies. Next, I place another sheet of absorbent blotting paper, with the date recorded, on top of the pansies and close the book.

“I have a huge encyclopedia which I place on top of the book with the pansies, and then I add a concrete patio block.”

A standard rule, says Garrioch, is to leave flowers in place for at least three weeks. “I sometimes wait four weeks before opening the page very carefully and gently lifting each flower with tweezers. I place each pressed flower on a small piece of cardboard which I cover with cellophane.”

Garrioch keeps her dried flowers in clear plastic envelopes which she stores in clear plastic bins. “I store everything by colour and type of plant. Some bins are labelled as pansies, others as grasses or leaves, etc.”

According to Garrioch, colour is an essential factor in pressing flowers successfully.

“Some flowers do not retain their colour as well as others, but also, some colours work better than others,” she says. “I find that purple and blue flowers such as pansies, salvia, larkspur and lavender press really well.”

The water content of some flowers can also be a factor, says Garrioch. “Impatiens, for example, do not press well because they have high water content in their petals,” she says. Flowers such as roses, peonies and dahlias also have high moisture levels in their petals which can result in browning.

Creative deconstruction

Flowers such as geraniums, phlox and hydrangeas which have clusters of multiple flowers can be deconstructed before pressing and drying. “It’s a bit tricky,” says Garrioch, “but you can remove small, individual petals.”

To make her framed art, Garrioch says she likes to choose a mood. “I might create a design that is soft and airy or sometimes a little edgy. Nigella love-in-a-mist is a really cool flower because you can arrange the tendrils. If I want to create something with a delicate look, I’ll use the wispy flowers of Nigella for the background of an arrangement.”

Bits of ornamental grasses — Karl Foerster is Garrioch’s favourite — along with leaves collected from a range of plants such as yarrow, ferns and coleus can help set the scene.

Once Garrioch is satisfied with her design, she puts a small dab of Mod Podge (a crafting medium that functions as a glue) on the back of the pressed flowers or leaves. She then assembles the flowers on acid-free watercolour paper and allows the Mod Podge to dry for 24 hours.

Finally, she brushes a very light top coat of Mod Podge in a matte finish over the pressed flowers and leaves. The glue dries clear and helps to seal and preserve the already-dried plant material so it does not crumble or fall apart.

After matting and framing her artwork, Garrioch displays the pieces in areas that do not receive direct sunlight.

“It’s important to ensure pressed flowers are framed securely,” says Garrioch. “Make it as snug as possible, because exposure to air or moisture can accelerate decay or fading.”

Calibrachoa flowers (million bells) have become one of Garrioch’s preferred flowers for pressing and framing. “There are so many different varieties introduced each spring. I can’t wait to see what’s available this year,” she says. “They come in every colour of the rainbow and they’re fabulous for pressing.”

This being Valentine’s Day, why not try pressing a flower from a bouquet or arrangement? “Not all flowers are pressable,” says Garrioch, “but baby’s breath, Queen Anne’s lace and ferns press very well. A carnation doesn’t work as well for pressing but can be deconstructed by carefully removing some of the petals.”

If a stem is wet, gently press a paper towel around it to soak up moisture before pressing.

Garrioch will be displaying her pressed flower artwork at makers’ markets this spring. For details, visit her Instagram page, @petalperfectionwpg.

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