How to Press Orchids
More than 20,000 species of orchids exist, according to the California Institute of Technology. Orchids come in a wide variety of colors and sizes, making them a good choice for use in bouquets. White orchids work well in wedding bouquets, while red orchids are better for a first date bouquet. If you receive an orchid bouquet on a special occasion, you may want to preserve it by pressing it in a book.
Lay two sheets of newspaper on a table.
Set one orchid on top of the newspaper. Remove the leaves, and cover with two more sheets of newspaper.
Open a heavy book and slide the newspaper containing the orchid between the pages. Close the book. Phone books, encyclopedias and complete dictionaries work well for pressing flowers.
Put the book containing the orchid on a desk, and set several other heavy books on top of it.
- Lay two sheets of newspaper on a table.
- Put the book containing the orchid on a desk, and set several other heavy books on top of it.
Wait two weeks before checking to see if the orchid has dried out. If any moisture remains, place the orchid in fresh paper and place back in the pages of the book for an additional two weeks.
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Tips
- If pressing more than one orchid, surround each orchid in newspaper and place in the heavy book with at least 1/8 inch of pages dividing it from any other orchids.
- Pressing orchids at their peak will ensure the color remains bright.
- Pressed orchids can be displayed in shadow boxes, or used on scrapbooking pages.
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Alicia Bodine has been a professional writer for 13 years. She has produced thousands of articles for online publications such as Demand Studios, GoBankingRates and WiseGeek. Bodine is passionate about gardening, travel, education and finance. She has received awards for being a top content producer.
