Drying flowers picked from my garden

I wanted to start sharing some of my practices with you, in no particular order of how they happen, but just as a beginning into what I do in my creative life. Tips and advice come in abundance via the internet, there is no shortage of information and “how to's”, so in a sense, what I am about to tell you is probably nothing new. However it is part of my story that I wanted to impart so that you are eventually able to understand how the jigsaw pieces fit together to create the artwork that I make. I call all my work art because I believe that Botanical Contact Printing, or Eco Printing, can generate amazing images, whether it be on paper or fabric, that are a thing of beauty to be appreciated and enjoyed by all.

Since discovering the magical prints that come from the Coreopsis flower, I now have two plants in my garden, both with different flowers. Neither, I believe, are the dyers Coreopsis, however both give a beautiful print so I am very happy. I am amazed at how many flowers one plant can produce and snipping off the flowers brings on a new flush, so I am building up a great stock of dried flower heads! I am also collecting Marigold flowers.

Coreposis plant

Coreposis flower heads

marigolds

I am drying the flowers in a cupboard that is in our “Red Shed”. Leaving the door slightly ajar I spread the flowers out in cardboard boxes so that they are not touching each other, this then allows the air to circulate around them for optimum drying. The colour is being retained really well so they will be fabulous to use for printing, or making dye, in the future.

The other flowers I planted last year were Cornflowers – purples, pinks and blues. I have not yet managed to get these flowers to print satisfactorily on paper or fabric, however have collected some for drying. I aim to make handmade paper again at some stage in the future so will be adding some colourful petals into the pulp mix. Most of the Cornflowers have kept their colour, and I discovered through my internet searching that you get the best colour retention when the flowers are picked with the petals still close together and not splayed out. This makes sense as the blooms are still young and fresh.

I still have oodles of Coreposis and Marigolds to pick, but the Cornflowers are now spent. It’s time to hit the garden again with my secateurs and collect up some more blooms!

Happy Creating, Kylie