A few years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting a certain theme park in Orlando. It was spring time, and so many things were in bloom! I recognized many flowers, like azaleas, fuchsias, and petunias, but others I did not recognize (cut me some slack — I haven’t lived forever in the south!). Being like each of you, I was intensely curious about things I didn’t know, like a particular tree sporting yellow blooms. I walked past it every time I entered or exited my room. I decided I had to have some of those flowers, but the practical side of me thought of the car ride to the airport, the flight home, the kids in tow, then the car ride home. I rationalized that they would be very unique souvenirs of our visit. Whatever. I was on a mission!
So, I snagged a few of the blossoms. Then I had to figure out how to get them home. I always carry a book to read, so whatever novel I was reading at the time became my flower press. I figured that if I put the book in my suitcase on the flight home, all the extra T-shirts and mouse ears that Grandpa bought would keep the book in place and those blossoms nice and flat. The gamble worked, and those flowers made it home! (I still have yet to identify the tree…)
The moral to the story is never borrow the same library books that I do — or maybe you want to, so that you find hidden treasure! Or rather, the moral here is to be resourceful, use what you have, appreciate the beauty around you, some thing like that.
Seriously, I wonder what tips and techniques you use to press flowers? Do you swear by a flower press or are you okay with an old recycled phone book? I am writing some more project materials and realized I need to explain the flower-pressing process, perhaps to a non-gardening audience. What would you tell them?
