A foray into flower pressing

It’s November and we’ve had no frosts to speak of, so there are still a few dots of colour in the garden. At this time of year flower stems tend to be quite short; too short really for picking for vases. However it seemed a shame to let these last few beauties wither into inconsequence, so I thought I’d pick them for pressing (something I haven’t done since I was child). I found it pretty boring when I was young but it’s a whole aesthetic now. I’m just pressing them in big books, between layers of kitchen roll, and not paying too much attention to how they’re laid out - if it works, I’m sure I’ll find something to do with them.

Even if the results are disappointing, it was pretty satisfying going round the garden with a basket, getting up close to what’s left in the beds and collecting little snippets of perfection. So wholesome. They look super pretty laid out, and now I’ve got a good idea of what’s still going at this late stage in the season - and what I want to make sure I have plenty of next year.

Flower-wise, I’ve got: nasturtiums (obvs), violas, fleabane, rose petals, geranium, Japanese anemone, wild carrot, verbena bonariensis, thunbergia, astrantia, nicotiana and rosemary flowers.

I think some will press better than others - the more ‘3D’ flowers like nasturtium and astrantia are a bit tricky to spread out. Foliage is much easier to handle and I picked up some very pretty leaves: nasturtium, cyclamen, wild carrot, beech, pittosporum, ivy, geranium, cup and saucer vine and mimosa.

After the in-your-face abundance of summer it’s makes a change to have to go looking for what’s happening in the garden.