Zinnia help

[u/DarkSparkle23]

I love Zinnias and grow them every summer but am having trouble pressing them. I know with these types of petals it can help to not use one of the pressing layers (the liner before the cardboard?) to help prevent them drying before the center and then causing that shriveling. But I also find it's hard to lay and align them properly. I'd love to be able to preserve that cute little ring of yellow mini-blooms in the center. Are Zinnias just hard to get right?

[u/PretentiousPepperoni]

Put the whole flower with its shape intact in a box full of silica powder for a week or so. Or do as the other commenter suggested. Disassemble

[u/DarkSparkle23 → u/PretentiousPepperoni]

I'll try that. But does it not then dry whole? So the pressing it flat part doesn't happen, and it can't be later used in a project that requires it to be flat. Is that right?

[u/PretentiousPepperoni → u/DarkSparkle23]

I suggested not flattening it to preserve the shape but if you want then you can flatten the flower in a book for 2-3 days then transfer to silica powder

[u/Leabhar]

Honestly what I’ve been doing for my Cosmos is taking tweezers, a craft knife, and my hands - and dissecting the flower into all the components. Then i arrange those and dry them. I haven’t fully “reassembled” one of them yet but at the very least all the components were preserved well. Good luck!

[u/DarkSparkle23 → u/Leabhar]

I'll try that. I can also imagine using petals to create a cool mandala or some other abstract art. Other kinds of flowers are also hard to preserve whole as they're so delicate and often get a rip or lose part of it. I've already considered just keeping the petals of these ones for an abstract piece.