How to Pick your Flowers and When to Pick them.

The big Secret for Flower Pressing

Photo by Michaela Murphy on Unsplash

This is not as simple as it sounds.

There’s an important secret that you should know if you want to get the best results from your flowers. Of all the tips this is probably one of the most helpful ones.

The most important rule to remember about picking flowers for pressing is that they should be picked when they are at their very best.

Flowers should be picked in the morning while they look fresh and happy. But don’t pick them too early. Wait until after the sun has dried off any dew or moisture on the petals. On the other hand, don’t wait until they are wilting from the heat!

A flower that is picked at its moment of perfection will press to perfection. If you pic a wilted flower it will look wilted or shrivelled when pressed.

Remember to pick buds too but they should show some colour first. Buds are very useful for adding interest, line and variation.

Also bear in mind that any moisture on a petal will eventually make the whole flower go mouldy and at some stage the whole page of pressed flowers will become infected too. I am often asked why flowers go brown or mouldy and this is one of the main reasons.

If you grow the flowers yourself, do not pick too many at a time as they will wilt and then they won’t be suitable for pressing. Try to press only flowers that are at the peak of their beauty.

If you have to buy your flowers, choose only those flowers that look fresh and newly picked. Discard any wilted specimens.

After you have picked or bought your flowers, stand them in deep water in a vase or bucket and keep them in a cool place. Then press them as soon as possible.