How to Ethically Forage for Cyanotype Botanicals
© Tiffany Means
It’s mid-March, and spring has sprung in the Blue Ridge Mountains! It seems the sunny, sweet, golden faces of daffodils and forsythia are on full display around every corner. And as a “spring baby,” I’m enjoying every minute of it.
Spring always makes me nostalgic for my childhood. Nostalgic for simpler times, like those when I traipsed around my grandmother’s yard, in bare feet, picking the violets, speedwell, daffodils, and paper whites that grew there.
Picking flowers was a daily pleasure for me during spring and summer months. To be honest, I still carry a deep impulse to pick flowers to this day. But with many plants thinning due to pollution, climate shifts, and habitat loss, I try to respect and preserve our wild spaces as much as possible. This is especially true when foraging for botanicals to include in my cyanotype designs.
To Pick Or Not to Pick
While picking wildflowers seems harmless enough—and most of the time it is—there are times when it can have cascading adverse effects. For example, if a plant is self-seeding (meaning it creates more plants by dropping its own seeds), removing it reduces its ability to reproduce, and may impact its survival at that location.
Removing wildflowers also means the bees, butterflies, birds, and other creatures that depend on their pollen, nectar, or seeds can no longer access that food supply.
And one should NEVER remove rare or endangered native plants!
Tips for Harvesting Plants More Mindfully
All of that said, yes, I still pinch off the occasional flower or sprig while hiking the trails. But before I put finger to flower, I keep the above in mind. I also do the following to minimize my impact on the environment:
Use fallen blooms
One of the best ways to forage botanicals ethically is to forage plants that Mother Nature has given permission for you to take—that is, those already on the ground. Think of it like “ugly produce;” sure, they may have a few imperfections, but they’re still perfectly good to use. Besides, sometimes the plants with “character” that make them unique and will set your print apart from all the rest.
Wait until late-season to harvest
Waiting until blooms are “old” or until a plant is nearing the end of its growing season to harvest it ensures that the pollinators who depend on them will have had their fill.
Keep trimmings from the garden & indoor houseplants
Pruning is a natural part of plant care. But the next time you need to remove damaged leaves or “deadhead” blooms, don’t toss them in the bin - use them in your designs.
Preserve what you pick
Another issue with picking botanicals is we often think of them as single-use. In other words, we harvest them, use them in a design, then discard them. However, if you dry or press what you’ve foraged, you’ll reduce the need to harvest more since you’ll be able to reuse that same specimen as often as you wish.
(This is one of my favorite ways to preserve my cyano botanicals. I fold flowers in wax paper, press between heavy books for 1-2 weeks, and store in a 3-ring binder. But more on that in a future blog…)
Take a photo
Photographing botanicals rather than harvesting them is the ultimate “leave no trace” option. Print the image negative on transparency film, and voilà, you’ve got a floral stencil that can be used indefinitely.
Forage from supermarket bouquets
Alright, so finding flowers down a grocery aisle won’t be as zen as finding them on a nature walk… but store-bought bouquets are a great plan B. Not only can they offer different varieties of plants not available in your garden, but “filler flower” bouquets often cost less than a latte. Their beauty also does double duty—use a few in your cyanotype designs, then put the rest in a vase and brighten your desk, bookshelf, or home entryway.
Do you normally practice plant ethics? Or is this the first time you’ve consciously thought of it? (It’s never too late to start!) Share your thoughts in the comments!
