There are many ways of
treating and pressing flowers to maintain the color and quality depending
on the individual flower. Flowers can be pressed and
framed very nicely as long as they're still in good condition.
Flowers are delicate and they
need to be preserved as soon as possible. It's very important to maintain freshness until the process is begun, so they should be
kept cool and dry until pressing.
Do not add water or mist your flowers.
It's best to rehydrate the flowers if they are starting to wilt when they are received,
if possible.
Do not put your flowers
in a freezer! When they are removed they will thaw and turn to
mush...there will be nothing left to preserve.
You must ship your flowers in an insulated box. To insulate the box, you can
use either Styrofoam sheets or packing peanuts.
Alternatively, you can use
two boxes, a larger box lined with plastic and packing peanuts, then place
the smaller box with the flowers and ice inside of the insulated box. You
could also use a Styrofoam cooler.
-
Loosely wrap the fresh cool flowers
in newspaper or tissue and place them in the box. Do not mist the flowers or
add water.
-
Fill a couple of zip-loc bags with water and freeze them
solid.
-
Tape the bags of ice to the
box that will hold the flowers. (This is done so the
ice
doesn't move around and crush the flowers during shipping.)
-
Put the wrapped flowers in
the insulated box.
-
Seal the box and Fed-Ex it,
overnight. Send with no signature required so the flowers are sure to be
delivered promptly.
If you want to preserve the
original design try to ship the arrangement without taking it apart
to better convey how it should be reassembled. If that's not possible, then please take pictures.
Preserving and pressing
should be done ASAP because the fresher the flowers, the better the
result. The freshness of your flowers is directly related to the
quality of your completed piece.
Be aware that if you try to
send your flowers out of the country, they will most likely be held up in
customs and the flowers will deteriorate beyond saving. Always find
someone in your own country to do your flowers.
If you need help finding
someone you may contact me and I'll give you some names and contact
information of good artists, many do not have websites but do excellent
work.
Anne Post
Preserved Gardens
41071 Conger Bay,
Harrison Twp., MI 48045
phone: 586 256-1728
Pressed Flowers By Preserved Gardens
