Lindsay Buck Will Teach You How to Preserve Flowers

With springtime fickle and fleeting, we couldn’t have come across Lindsay Buck’s online herbarium at a better time. Her incredible collection includes wildflower specimens sourced locally and internationally. Having started her collection in the open meadows of Switzerland, Buck brought it back with her to Minnesota, where she continues to collect, press, and add to her herbarium collection.

“The freshly pressed blog is my way of connecting with others and hopefully inspiring them to further explore the melding of art and nature,” she informs on her website. Having pursued degrees in biology, fine arts, and environmental studies, Buck believes that designers and scientists can both benefit from exploring across fields.

“My blog brings various projects and musings to press to motivate both professions (as well as those of us who fall in the middle) to approach their work with a fresh perspective and renewed sense of wonder,” she notes.

Her website also includes a short guide on how to collect and press flowers, so you too can follow her footsteps. Either that or you can admire her collection from afar via Instagram.

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STEP 3: PRESSING (1/2)- #herbariumhowto 🌿 After proper preparation, load the plants into the press, making sure there is a layer of parchment between the plants and the plywood dividers on both top and bottom. After the press is full, apply pressure to keep the plants flat while they dry. I prefer to use a simple plant press (this one here is self-made), where wingnuts allow the pressure to be carefully adjusted. This ensures the plants remain flat enough to prevent bubbling, but also helps ensure they are not getting squashed beyond recognition. A stack of heavy books can work in place of a plant press, but lacks the ability to fine-tune the pressure, which I find to be one of the keys to a successful pressing. 🌿Nach der richtigen Vorbereitung, ladet die Pflanzen in die Presse, sodass es immer eine Schicht aus Pergament zwischen den Pflanzen und den Sperrholzteilern oben und unten gibt. Wenn die Presse voll ist oder alle Pflanzen in der Presse sind, wendet Druck an, um die Pflanzen flach zu halten während sie trocknen. Ich ziehe es vor, eine einfache Pflanzenpresse (diese hier ist selbst gemacht) zu verwenden, wo sich mit Flügelmuttern der Druck sorgfältig und gleichmässig einstellen lässt. Dies sorgt dafür, dass die Pflanzen flach genug bleiben um die Blasenbildung zu verhindern und hilft auch sicherzustellen, dass sie nicht bis zur Unkenntlichkeit zerquetscht werden. Ein Stapel von schweren Büchern kann anstelle einer Pflanzpresse funktionieren, da fehlt aber die Fähigkeit, den Druck feinabzustimmen, den ich als einen der Schlüssel zu einem erfolgreichen Pressen finde.

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