April 30, 2026
It looks dreamy, doesn't it? The white natural linen dress, the rustic basket filled to the brim with wild daisies...the woman is likely walking barefoot through the poppy fields, long hair blowing in the soft breeze. Reality check...that's not REAL!! Do you want to know what foraging looks like? Here is a quick photo I snapped while driving through my woods in our golf cart, wildflowers hanging out of a water-filled paper cup and my special needs son sitting next to me along for the bumpy ride. If you could see me, there would not be a white dress in sight; instead, you would see my jeans, t-shirt, messy bun and garden shoes, all covered with remnants of dirt from my garden. Why ride instead of walk? May I introduce you to the unwelcome visitors in our Missouri woods...ticks, chiggers and snakes!
Although my attire does not match the romantic photo from above, do you know what DOES match? The flowers. Wild and beautiful. As a flower farmer, I spend a large amount of time planning, ordering seeds, starting seeds, preparing soil, planting, weeding, harvesting...and the list goes on and on. And yet, in early spring, thousands of tiny plants push their way through the winter debris of the forest floor and bloom--often before the weather warms. These flowers are called ephemerals; they grow and bloom in the spring sunshine before the tree leaves later in the season create too much shade for them to thrive. Spring ephemerals complete their life cycle in spring and then disappear again until next year, so the window to find them is brief. No planning, no planting, no weeding...but the flowers are just as exquisite as the pampered ones in my garden.
Native plants are those that have developed and thrived naturally in an area for hundreds or even thousands of years. They are perfectly suited to the area they grow in, so require less work to care for. Even though my business is centered around the flowers I plant and grow, the natives on my land cannot be ignored. Since many of these early ephemerals are very tiny, they are perfect for "mini" botanical art. Come explore with me!
One of my favorite spring wildflowers is Wild Blue Phlox, or Wild Sweet William. There are many types of phlox, and they all have similar flower clusters that press beautifully.
Violets are one of the most well-known and loved spring ephemeral wildflowers, even present in many lawns. While some disparage them as weeds, the flowers are stunning and are easy to preserve.
Rue Anemone has such delicate pale pink flowers and greenery, and needs a wooded environment to thrive. They look wonderful in artwork! There are hundreds and hundreds of wildflowers, and will vary in variety depending on where you live. Preserving flowers is both an art and a science...and science is all about experimenting! Some flowers that look like they will press well do not, but if you are interested in preserving your own foraged flowers, I encourage you to try to press everything, and keep records of what works well for you.
Keep your flowers in water until you are ready to work with them, and then trim them into 3" sprigs.
Although I press most of my flowers the "old fashioned" way by sandwiching them between sheets of watercolor paper and cardboard, I often use a microwave to pull out the bulk of the water before putting them in my press. There are many types of presses, so once again, read about lots of options and do your own experimentation.
To create the mini wildflower art that I designed, you will need some strips of wood--I use 3 1/4" long strips of maple, 1/2" wide and 1/8" thick. Each frame takes 4 strips. I use a 3" wide by 4" tall piece of watercolor paper and glue the strips to the top and bottom of the paper, sandwiching the paper between them. I also add a 6" length of hemp cord between the top pieces of wood to allow the frame to hang.
Once the frame is done, your pressed specimen can be carefully glued to the paper. I also like to print out the common and scientific name for the flower on a piece of mulberry paper that can be "torn" to provide a natural look to the piece.
Make several with different flowers to create a group of herbarium-style works of art!
I hope this post spurred your imagination for ways you can forage for flowers and create your own art. If you love this project but would rather make it from a kit, you can purchase this kit from my shop HERE.
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