 Flower pressing is used during
the first week of school to welcome students to the gardens. We
combine flower pressing and picking a bouquet with a review of garden
rules.We started pressing flowers the first fall.
The telephone company delivered leftover phone books from one of our
smaller communities so each child could have her own. We found that
for first graders, it's just too complicated to have them pick their own
flowers. So volunteers pick them ahead of time.
Then, after the students have placed the pre-picked flowers in their
phone books, they pick another one or two from the gardens.
We pre-pick some of the flowers for the second
graders. We show them the ones we have picked and why. We also
show them which flowers are not good for pressing and why.
If you have an abundance of flowers, you can have
students select about 4 flowers and leaves from
precut selections and then send them into the
gardens to cut 2-3 more.
 By
the third grade, the students have had two years experience with the
process of pressing flowers and leaves and do a good
job selecting flowers and leaves that will press well.
When will the flowers be ready to use?
A pressed flower held by its stem will stand upright if it is completely
dry. How long it takes depends on the weather (damp/dry) and the
thickness of your flower. We press the flowers in the
first week of school and
generally leave
them in the phone books until the following spring.
Some teachers use their pressed flowers at the end of October during
their fall party; others wait until May to make Mother's Day gifts;
still others use the pressed flowers when rain prevents us from going to
the gardens.
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