Spring is a beautiful time of year for pressing flowers; my top 10 favourite include pressed daffodils, iris and bluebells. My flower pressing guide, ‘The Best Flowers To Press,’ will teach you how to master flower pressing with a book or a flower press and our post, ‘How To Make A Pressed Flower Frame,’ will give you ideas on how to frame your flowers once they have dried and flattened.
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Pressed Daffodils
The beauty of pressed daffodils is that there are so many different varieties from which to choose. Without a doubt, the miniature daffodils do press the best however the characteristics of some of the larger species also make them fascinating when dried. I love pressed daffodils and often feature them in my pressed flower artwork, like the below.
Pheasant Eye Daffodil / The Poets Daffodil/ Pinkster Lily (Narcissus Poeticus)
This pure white daffodil has a gorgeous array of names that it is known by and a distinct look when dried. The pheasant’s eye or striking red and yellow centre of the daffodil gives it a charming character.
Daffodil Sempre Avanti/ Salome Daffodil
Creamy white flowers with orange cups make this another stunning variety to experiment with in the press. The translucent nature of the petals overlapping the orange cup is incredible.
Miniature Narcissus Tete A Tete
Tete-a-tete daffodils, characterised by two flower heads on a single stem, are tiny and press quickly with beautiful structures.
Trumpet Daffodils
Trumpet daffodils have are traditional looking with long trumpets and single flower on each stem.
Woodland Anemone
Known as a ‘wind flower’, these dainty purple-blue blooms are very daisy-like and press beautifully and quickly.
Iris
The iris is one of the spring bulbs that is difficult to press but not impossible. I sliced the stem in half vertically to speed up drying and prevent moisture from turning the specimen mouldy. Using this technique worked perfectly, and I got a result showing lots of hidden details and colours. Perhaps this is why the word iris, meaning ‘rainbow’, was used to describe this flower.
Bluebells
English Bluebells
English bluebells are the most commonly found bluebell species here in the UK and press quickly. Their stems of bells create intricate detail in a beautiful purple-blue hue.
Spanish Bluebells
Rarer are the pinker-looking bluebells which are Spanish and less common to come across in the UK. The secret to pressing bluebells well and retaining their colour is following our recommended flower-pressing methods.
Muscari
A bubbly mushroom shape in appearance, surprisingly, muscari press well and offer a silhouette like no other flower.
Aquilegia
I’ve included the aquilegia here because they are so easy to press and one of the first plants I find blooming in spring. Their little bonnet-shaped heads press quickly and create beautiful silhouettes left to press on their stems.
Crocus
Ahead of aquilegia the crocus is the very first flower I put in my flower press in spring. Small and unassuming crocuses look great displayed in large multiples arranged in rows or randomly.
I like large simple flower presses that can A4 sheets of blotting paper like these by Little Garden Vintage. If money were no object I’d also splurge on one of these luxury flower presses by Blue Brontide. They are stunning!
Conclusion
Daffodils and spring bulbs are amongst the best flowers to press along with wild flowers and some of our cut flower favourites. For further reading check out our post, The Best Wild Flowers UK To Press.
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Contempfleury
Contempfleury is an art studio run by Leah Nikolaou from her home and garden in Somerset. She works extensively with pressed flowers to create her one-of-a-kind artworks, pressed flower prints and pressed flower embroidery kits. Pressed daffodils and spring bulbs are flowers she commonly uses in her floral palette.
