After spraying the flower last night, this morning it had two brown spots, one on the petal and one on the dorsal. I guess the chemicals caused it.
Some much for preserving Mother Natures works. I guess they were meant to die !!!!!!!!!!! All good things can't last forever.

Aaaahhh too bad, I was hoping that it would work. It probably has to be hot dipped. Thanks for the info.

Looks like I missed the previous thread about this??? I have never tried this, but one of my buddies in the society said he has frozen flowers and then sprayed them with laquer(I think that's how you spell it) with mixed results.

The one thing I have done is put flowers in the epoxy resin to make paperweights. They look nice for a while, but the color fades in about a month. I'm still waiting for that magic way of perfectly preserving them...one day.

Jon

Jon, I was wondering why you didn't post on the earlier thread, this sounded like a topic you would experience with.

I believe the issue is moisture within the flower.

In order to successfully preserve blossoms, you have to surround it with a desiccant to suck all of the moisture out, THEN protect it somehow.

I have heard of corn meal being used, but silica gel is far more effective.

Jon,
Have you tried using your microwave flower press first before you resin it in a paperweight? The color might last longer, and flat paperweights are good too...

I'm sure we've all seen butterflies or other bugs preserved in a gel filled globe and I think that medium is a form of liquid silicon with a jello-like consistency but I'm not sure. I've got the head of a HUGE rattlesnake in one of those globes that I bought in DFW airport about 10 years ago and the head has not dessicated nor lost its color. Perhaps the tissue was pickled in formaldehyde first because the eyeballs are filmy white, but they're still full and round. I accidentally left the globe in the sun one day and it developed a bubble in the top and you can see the jelly wiggle when you shake it now.

Again, I don't know what the process is but it seems that it might work well for orchid blooms as long as they're kept out of the sun.