The Back Garden

I have three gardens, the smaller annual garden, which I try to faithfully tend, the middle perennial garden, which gets some attention and the large back garden, with both perennials and annuals, which is my orphan.

This year, there has been more than a few times that I have been out in the back garden and something I see moves me - so much so I catch a tear or two dripping down my cheek. Seeing my grandmother's pink rose bush - so resilient with that underground root system - last year it looked like it was on it's last leg, but now it is popping up all over the garden with shades of white, pale, bicolor to deep pink. Or the hundreds of phlox that began blooming the beginning of July - I'm thinking my unsuspecting neighbors might have thought those tall weedy looking plants were just that, weeds. But now they have exploded into a beautiful palette or color - some reaching 9 feet tall!

But I was most moved by my discovery the other day - a plant that I last spotted in the garden over 5 years ago - my favorite pressing plant at the time, the one that looked like a black eyed susan, but different - with leaves that swirled in a curve and long thin yellow petals that looked so whimsical. It was the leaves that I loved the most. I mourned the first year that it didn't come back - and searched everywhere for an exact replacement, to no avail. Dragging my watering cans to the back garden Wednesday to water a few newely planted perennials -I gasped in disbelief when I saw the first flower blooming on what ends up to be several plants that decided to come back to the garden for a visit......

Showing Off...

I participated in an art show in charming Flossmoor, Illinois a few weeks back. Any artist that sells outside in the elements will relate to what I'm about to talk on next... This art fair has a history unbelievably, predictable bad weather - my first year it rained so hard there was a river running through the bottom of my tent, second year locust, third year tornado type winds all weekend. This year it was rain with high winds that moved my tent 5 feet! But I loved showing off my new pieces of pressed flower art - and received a very warm response. Here is an example of some of my pieces...

Pressed Flower Reflection

Pressed flower art has been around for a very long time. I've read that in Egyptian tombs, they found some pressed delphinium that still had it's blue color! As with everything, pressed flower art has gone through it's cycles. But make no mistake, this is not your grandmother or even your mother's art. Today's pressed flower artist uses whole stemmed flowers (like the ones sold at Petal Annie's Etsy shop), clean, modern designs and pressing processes that produces bold, bright colors. There is something very zen about taking pressed flowers and arranging on a sheet of handmade paper based on how you "feel" when you lay them out. It's a true reflection of your inner self. Be a pressed flower artist today!

It's Spring! Crocus Spotting.

I walked into my garden yesterday and let out a shriek - it sounded something like this "Eeeekkkkkkkk"! Eighty crocus ready to bloom! Yesterday in the rain they looked like little slim,white fingers coming up out of the rich, dark soil. Today, we had sun, and all 80 were at full flower. Now, I have an excruciatingly detailed process to press bulbs - I've mastered tulips, daffodils, muscari, and anemone, but for some reason, I'm still working on perfecting my crocus pressing. Looks like I'll have enough to practice on. Time to get the nails dirty and get out in the garden!

My Passage into Spring

Welcome,

I'm a pressed flower artist from Wheaton, Illinois. I grow and press over 300 different annuals, perennials and wildflowers in my garden.

I run a shop on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/petalannie) (my sellers name is "PetalAnnie" . I also have a website http://www.petalannie.com/.

I sell loose pressed flowers for other pressed flower artists to use, framed and unframed artwork and other home decor items that are inspired by my pressed flower collection. I press teeny tiny flowers to very large flowers. My pressed flower collections include flowers that tend to be difficult to press, like Zinnia's, Peonies and Tullips. I follow a disciplined ritual in my process to ensure the highest quality in my pressed flower supplies and artwork.

Here is a sample of some Icelandic Poppies that I pressed! The shading and the color are all the natural color of the flowers - amazing!