Many garden flowers are suitable for pressing
In my previous post I mentioned that my pressed flower suppliers for daisyshop.co.uk were retiring. So I have spent the summer experimenting with pressing flowers from around the garden.
I found that going out into the garden every day was a brilliant way to stay in touch with nature, which I think is good for mental health. As the seasons changed, the flowers available changed too, and I looked more closely at the flowers and leaves.
There are other posts in this blog about DIY flower pressing and how to press flowers, but here is a list of some successes and failures if you’re looking for some blooms to try, or some to avoid.
Flowers and leaves for pressing
This year I’ve had successes pressing the following flowers:
- Ammi florets – pretty white umbels
- Viola – I love the faces of these cottage garden flowers
- Salvia – the velvety blooms press well when separated from the calyx
- Fennel florets – little yellow umbels
- Didiscus florets – this is a blue umbel with individual tiny blue flowers that each look a little like a forget-me-not
- Feverfew – little yellow and white daisies
- Monarda florets
- Mirabilis – these are brightly coloured trumpets
- Hardy geraniums – simple flowers in shades of pink and purple
Successes from previous years at home and from my suppliers include:
- Small fuchsias
- Single roses
- Delphinium florets
- Daisies – marguerite and lawn
- Gypsophila
- Sea lavender
- Lavender
- Hydrangea florets
- Lobelia
- Verbena
- Potentilla
- Small tagetes
I’ve also been pressing leaves – these are broadly ferny in appearance:
- Corydalis
- Fern
- Maidenhair vine
- Achillea
- Tagetes
From past experience these leaves are also good:
- Clematis
- Acer
- Silverweed
- Rose
- Herbs such as rosemary, sage, wormwood and bay
Plant material to avoid
Generally speaking anything that doesn’t look great when you pick it will only look worse once pressed! But here are some more tips:
- Light green or yellow foliage discoloured when I pressed it – examples are Lysimachia (creeping jenny) and gold shrubby honeysuckle (a Lonicera variety)
- Jasmine leaves discoloured
- Herb robert and pelargonium leaves discoloured
- Fat flowers are likely to go moldy rather than dry flat. This year I tried pressing monarda – the whole head was too fat, but pulling each little floret away to dry separately worked well – they look like little birds.
- Sometimes white and pale flowers will discolour – roses vary according to variety, and I haven’t had much luck with white or pale pink jasmine flowers.
Buy pressed flowers online
My own pressed flowers will become available in the next few months as the old stock sells through, so look out for Sussex pressed flowers at daisyshop.co.uk
I have also been experimenting with pressing flowers that have previously been dried. Stems of dried flowers can be dampened before pressing. These will be available too.