Press flowers in a book

Choose flowers you can take

Begin with two or three flowers from your garden, a bouquet, or somewhere you have permission to pick. Leave flowers in public plantings and natural places unless collecting is allowed. Small, fairly flat blooms and leaves are easier to press than thick, fleshy ones. Pick flowers that are dry, rather than wet with rain or morning dew. If you like, photograph them first and note where they came from. Their color and shape may change as they dry.

Press them between paper

Place each flower between layers of plain, absorbent paper or paper towel. Spread the petals gently so they do not fold over one another, and leave room between flowers. Slip the paper into the middle of a heavy book, close it carefully, and stack another book on top. Choose a book you would not mind marking if some moisture reaches a page. Keep the stack in a warm, dry spot where it can stay undisturbed.

Check the flowers the next day. If the paper feels damp, replace it carefully with dry sheets. Then check again after a week. Leave the flowers until they feel completely dry and papery; with the book method, the Royal Horticultural Society suggests allowing two to four weeks. A thicker bloom may need more time. If one bunches up, try pressing its petals separately next time.

Use a flower press for several layers

If you want to press more flowers at once, you can buy a reusable flower press from a craft shop or an online store such as Amazon. Arrange each set of flowers between sheets of absorbent paper, with cardboard separating one set from the next. Leave space between blooms within each layer, repeat the paper-and-cardboard stack as the press allows, then tighten the boards evenly. Check for damp paper as the flowers dry and replace it when needed. The Home Depot’s flower-press guide shows the layering method. For just a few blooms, the book method is all you need.

Give one flower a page

Lift a dry flower gently from the paper and arrange it on a card or notebook page. Add the date, the place, and one detail you might otherwise forget: the edge of a petal, the color of the center, or who brought the bouquet home. You can leave it loose in a paper folder or attach it to a page with a little glue. Keep the finished page dry and out of strong sunlight.

Botanical albums have long held both careful observations and personal meaning. The Smithsonian Gardens collection shows how earlier makers arranged pressed plants on pages. Yours can be much simpler: a single flower and a few words are enough to remember it by.

If you would rather leave the flower growing

You can still keep what drew you to it. Make a photograph or a sketch, then try bringing home its colors on a page. There is no need to pick a flower to remember seeing it.

Where to start

• Follow the RHS book-pressing instructions if you want a complete illustrated method.
• For a larger homemade press, watch the Smithsonian's plant-press demonstration.
• Keep noticing what grows nearby with a field notebook you will actually use.