Why Did My Pressed Flowers Fall Apart?

If you’ve opened your flower press and felt disappointed to find some of your flowers have fallen apart during the pressing process, please try not to feel disheartened. Discovering flowers that haven’t pressed perfectly is very common, and happens even to those who press flowers very regularly. Whilst I’d encourage you to shrug it off and try again, read on to find my top tip for preventing pressed flowers from falling apart.

The most likely reason for your pressed flowers falling apart is the age of the flower when it was pressed. Young new flowers, freshly picked from a garden that are in their first few days of bloom are going to be structurally much stronger than older flowers. If you take some time to observe flowers in a garden or public space, you’ll notice that older flowers that are nearing the end of their flowering stage will often start dropping petals and other parts as they prepare to turn into seed heads. If you pick an old flower to press, this natural process of transitioning from flower to seed has already begun, and as a result, you’re far more likely to find a flower that has fallen apart when you open your flower press, or that falls apart in your hands once you’ve removed it from your blotting paper. Search for lovely fresh new flowers to press, and hopefully you’ll have much better results.

If you’d like to learn more about flower pressing, The Pressed Flower Handbook will gently guide you through everything you need to know. The book has received the most wonderful reviews and is inspiring people all over the world to give flower pressing a go. You’ll find copies for sale in all the usual online stores and in lots of wonderful independent bookshops.