Sorting & Storing Flowers

I love this time of year when new blossoms seem to appear every day in the garden.  I enjoy gathering flowers, leaves and stems from the garden to press each day.  I don't mind changing the desiccant paper every 1-2 days during the pressing process to ensure fast moisture removal and bright colored results.  The part I do NOT like is organizing and storing my bounty.

Since we have received considerable rain over the last two days, I decided to bite the bullet.  I took my stack of pressed flowers still encased in Viva paper towels and one by one removed roses, potentilla, pansy, delpinium, coral bells, coreopsis, larkspur, verbena, scabiosa, tiny daisies, lobelia, peony assorted leaves and stems and sorted them onto computer paper.  My kitchen counters were covered with flowers.

Then I placed each batch of flowers on cardstock cut to fit the size of the storage bag.  Then I placed a piece of tracing paper over the top of the flowers and folded it over the bottom of the cardstock to prevent damage while inserting and removing the flowers from the package.

Finally, I carefully inserted my bounty into freezer bags, labeled them and placed them in storage.  I store most of my flowers alphabetically by name but they could be stored by color.  The key is to develop a system which ensures you can find what you need when you need it.