The Oklahoman

Wildflower­s can last well past summer's end

- By Neil Garrison

You have but to take a quick glance outside at Mother Nature's wildflower meadows and quickly cotton onto the fact that these non-tame blossoms bring you great joy and excitement.

It's a great shame that all of this has to come to an abrupt end when the freezing air temperatur­es return at season's end.

But, wait! You are not powerless to do anything about this. Let me clue you in on a little secret ... You can preserve these colorful wildflower­s and enjoy them inside your home when snow piles up outside the glass panes of your home's windows.

First off, protect yourself with a liberal dose of insect repellent and then venture out into the wildflower

meadow near your neighborho­od. Snip off those blossoms that have the particular colors that bring you immense joy. Once you get back home, gingerly remove the flower petals and lay them out on a piece of typing paper. Be sure to leave some space between the individual petals.

Next, cover all of this with another sheet of typing paper.

The third part of the process is to sandwich this between a couple sheets of corrugated cardboard.

Stack some heavy books on top of this and patiently wait for the living tissues to dry out.

Eventually, you can select some rainy, stormy day in the future when you can retrieve your dried/pressed flower petals and do an art project whereby you use some rubber cement to affix them into flowers of your imaginatio­n's own design on a poster board background. Display this art piece in a place where direct sunlight cannot reach it.

Enjoy!

 ??  ?? The wildflower­s of summer don't have to disappear at season's end. [THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
The wildflower­s of summer don't have to disappear at season's end. [THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]

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