This is a great time of year for pressing flowers and some of my favourites are either still in bloom from May or just coming in to bloom now. I’ve done a quick blog on some of the best flowers to press right now and how.
Meadow Buttercup
Carpets of buttercups everywhere and they are one of my favourites – press some side on with the stalk and some just the flower face down and remove the stalk to make it as flat as possible
Birdsfoot Trefoil
This beautiful yellow meadow wildflower looks great when pressed with the stalks. The flowers have such great unusual shapes and many of the blooms are tinged with red too.
Wild Geranium
This beautiful purple flower is another of my favourites to press and the forest floor is full of these at the moment. Just take the flower with a short bit of stem and play around with some side on with the stem and some just open flowers face down.
Red Campion
The tiny pretty pinky purple flower seems too small to press but a couple of these pressed with their stalks, are lovely and work well for pressed flower crafts.
Again, play around with some side on with stem and some just open flowers face down.
Common Vetch
This delicate, frilly leaved purple flower with it’s thin, curly feelers and bright blooms is lovely to press as a whole with the stalk, leaves and curl.
Fern
Ferns are one of my favourite leaves and one of my very favourite things to press – as a whole and I separate and press the individual fronds too. They look great on cards, tealight holders and pressed in frames to hang like the ones in my collection by Paly Glass.
Things that are hard to press and better to dry
Roses are in full bloom but they are very hard to press whole. The petals look great pressed or you can cut a small rosebud in half to press but you will need to use lots of layers of paper to absorb the extra moisture. Honeysuckle and daisies don’t press very well and nor do cornflowers and calendula (the blue and yellow flowers shown in the posy here).
With these last two, I like to dry them by hanging them upside down in bunches tied with string somewhere cool and dark to use in wreaths or use the petals to add to bath salts.
Things to remember
Only take as much as you need to press and only when you know you can press the flowers immediately as they need to be fresh when you press them. If you’re going on a long walk, take a heavy book or flower press with you or only collect things towards the end so they will keep.
Where possible, press things you grow yourself and only take a few things from the wild. Make sure you know what you are picking before you pick it and be careful not to trample things when you pick. Only ever pick from public land, not private, and don’t pick from the same place every time – leave plenty for pollinators, insects and other animals to enjoy.
More on pressing flowers
I filmed a short IGTV video which explains how to use a wooden flower press and shows a few of these flowers being pressed. If you want to try some pressed flower crafts with the things you press, I have a blog on that. And if you don’t have a flower press, and would like one, you can get one of my wooden flower presses here.
I’d love to know what you press this month and what you use it for – tag me in your photos on Instagram if you take any!