What I Did With This Year's Peonies

Peony season at my new house was a small event this year. Just ten blooms from roots I planted last winter. But I pressed and preserved almost all of them, and I wanted to show you the results.

I pressed two flowers whole, pressed petals from two flowers to reassemble later, and dried three as three-dimensional flowers. I wasn't sure how peonies would hold up through the process, but I've been very happy. The deep purple-red variety kept its color almost exactly, just a little darker, and the pink softened just slightly.

You can see a video of my preserved peonies on Facebook here.

Here's the funny thing, though: I haven't used any of them in artwork yet. I only got ten peony flowers this year, and I pressed even fewer. They feel too precious to use. What if I glue them down in a project and then I regret the placement? The rational part of me knows that might be silly, but the emotional part of me is still holding onto them for just "the right project."

That brings me to one of the reasons I love preserving flowers.

Peonies are only here for a few weeks, and then we have to wait until next spring to see them again. That's true for a lot of my favorite spring flowers - lilacs, tulips, daffodils. 

Pressing those short-lived flowers lets me hold onto their beauty for a little longer.

Now here's something new: 

I'm going to open up an online store for seasonal pressed flowers. These are bold, beautiful statement flowers that draw your attention and are the centerpiece of a design.

A yellow, peach, and pink pressed dahlia

I'll offer dahlias first, and they'll arrive on my website in September/October and be available for shipment nationwide. I didn't have a chance to plant my own dahlia tubers this year, so this first batch are grown by another Greene county flower farmer.

Preserved peonies will be available next June/July, once I've had a chance to harvest and press them.

If you want to know when pressed dahlias and other flowers are ready, hit reply and let me know. I'll make sure you're one of the first to hear.

Warmly,
Laura