What Pressing Flowers Taught Me About Patience

There’s something quietly transformative about pressing flowers. It isn’t just a craft, it’s a meditation, a reminder that beauty unfolds in its own time. 

 

When I first started pressing flowers, I thought it would be quick and easy. Pick a flower, place it between paper, press, wait a few days, and voilà! But flowers have their own rhythm. Some petals dry in a week; others press after months. Some curl unexpectedly, while others flatten beautifully on the first try. Some flowers hold their colour while others evolve into a whole new colour. I quickly realised that pressing flowers is as much about patience as it is about technique.

 

While you can find simple steps and tutorials on flower pressing online, it’s definitely not as easy as it first appears. It’s really about discovering what works for you, what type of paper and press to use, how often to change the paper, what materials to place between the layers, and how long to keep the flowers in the press. It’s truly been a beautiful journey to understand what works best for me, and I believe it’s something that will always be evolving, a process I will constantly be tweaking and learning.

 

From the beginning, I chose to do all my flower pressing in the most natural way. A wooden press, paper, and chipboard, that’s it. The paper I always dry out and reuse, so nothing is wasted. I’m practically playing with nature, and of course, there is so much beauty in nature. It has its own timeline, its own rhythm.

For example..

 

A Hydrangea petal: Presses perfectly within a week or two, almost without even having to change the paper. Some pink hydrangea petals will turn purple in the press, and some blue hydrangea petals will also turn purple.

 

A Phalaenopsis orchid: Holds so much detail and moisture. It can take up to two months to fully press, with the paper needing to be changed constantly. However, it retains its colour and detail beautifully.

 

Blue Delphinium: What can I say, you can’t go wrong. The blue stays blue. Stunning.

 

Butterfly Ranunculus: Delicate. Super delicate. Handling these wrong when their not fully pressed can end badly. But they hold their colour beautifully.

 

Nature is truly beautiful the details, the colour, the texture, it's truly amazing and to capture it all in a moment in a frame is incredibly special.

 

Pressing flowers is more than a hobby or a job; it’s a lesson in slowing down, observing, and appreciating the small things and the simplicity of nature.  Each pressed flower is a quiet celebration of patience, a gentle nudge to remember that some of the most beautiful things in life take time