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Specimens and sources

My first plant pressings were gathercd from a city centrę but, in my eagcmess to collect as many Specimens as possible, I did not make a nOtc of my lccal discoceries. This resulted in a great deal o; frustration when I went in search o( furlher supplics the following ycar. On a stretch ot waste land near a railway station! had ramę across a smali gathering of pink fiowers accompanied by magnificent spiked rust leaves, which i sub$equently identified as sperics of Cranesbill. Although I was familiar with the generał layont, i could not lora te the traci place aga i n until the crop had almost died away and only a rew withered Ieaves remained. Another misadventure arose with a track of Herb Robert which spraw led along a tarmac path. This time I had no trouble in locating the plants again but 1 returned too lato in the year, by which time the leaves were large and dark. missing the liny growths with their brilliani pink colours. A textbook on plant lile will give you a generał guide on where certain sperics can be found and their flowering periods. but naturę does not always follow a strict patiem.

Selecting materiał

Varying weather conditions can delay or encourage growth in a particular area, and of course, plants in shadowed positions seldom grow at the same pace as their sun-sited companions. In order to pick the earliesl growths and smallest specimens while they we still in a suitable condition for pressing, the collector must be prepared to revisit a potential sito at regular intervals. Even a delay of a fortnight can deprive you of a favouriic seiection of materiał until il reappears the fol-Iowing year. Since i have missed several crops through neglecting to keepa sirnple record, 1 strongly advi$e any collector to tako A notę of his or her local diseoeeries, the

exaci situ on which they were found and the datę on which they were pickcd.

Another mistake of minę was failing to keep A scrap book of specimens becausc, along with the many delights in storo for the collector. thero are inevilab!y also a few disappoiniments. Sonie fiowers do not retain their odginał colouiS when dried, particularly tiie blue rangę of wild piants. Notable exceptions are Larkspur and Delphinium, both garden fiowers which can be regarded as the permaneni blues of the floral palette. Kedsoften acquire a brownish tinge when dried, bright greenery is apt to lose its fresh tint, pinks and purples ran rade into rnuted beiges and grey tones. Orange and yellow fiowers usually show the besl colom retention and, while some white fiowers remain surprisingly fresh, others tum to a dingy shade of brown.

/I large Hydrangeo pc-lul is Irinmed dmon to farm a Lvwl fluU conlams im assormer.i offimers. Ti:e rust te./ of a Cut-lemvd Cranesltiii (indi? single Forgsł-me-not head are posiiioned lo bidę Ifie straight scissor cui linę which could disturb the natura! presentation.

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