An incredibly beautiful book sharing practical ways to create beauty in my own life, too. The illustrations on their own are overflowing with inspiration for my own art.

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I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A great instructional book on making a herbarium using pressed plants. Excellent drawings and instructions. Would have loved to see some actual pictures for pressed plants, though.

Pressed Plants is a comprehensive beginner friendly guide with tutorials for getting started preserving and cataloguing a person herbarium/plant collection by Linda P.J. Lipsen. Released 10th Feb 2023 by the Royal British Columbia Museum, it's 96 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.
The cataloguing and organization of plant material into a cohesive (and correctly identified) herbarium is admittedly exotic, academic, and (some would say) tweedy hobby. It's also deeply steeped in adventure, history, and exploration. Early explorers were hardy and fearless and raced to find and bring back heretofore unknown species. As a result, botanical material was crated and shipped wholesale (generally unidentified) back to be bought and curated into private and public collections worldwide. This book is written for hobbyist collectors and for building readers' private collections, but there are flashes of the same adventure and wanderlust in the author's instruction included here.

The book is arranged logically, with chapters divided thematically: building a field kit and collecting tools (including a good overview on sourcing and evaluating what to get and where), collecting plant material, pressing & drying, mounting, preserving & organizing, and identifying specimens. The text is enhanced throughout with tips set apart by identifying icons indicating reusable/recycling ideas, tips and tricks, and checklists for fieldwork. The text is enhanced throughout by simple line drawings and graphics rendered by Derek Tan. Although quite simple, they enhance and inform the text. The author has also included a solid bibliography to get collectors started with ID and classification, as well as a cross referenced index (not provided in the ARC for review).

Four stars. It's an admittedly niche book, but I heartily recommend it to readers who enjoy academic collections and who really enjoy seeing collections of *stuff* being arranged and catalogued and ordered. Beautifully done and well illustrated. This would also be an excellent choice for public or school library, activity groups, maker's groups, smallholders and similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium is a detailed and informative book about how to press plants and create your own herbarium. This book gives easy to follow and understand information and steps in starting out and beginning this hobby. I loved how the author covered topics such as taking samples from Indigenous locations and crediting the people and site the samples have come from and credits how Indigenous knowledge has been undercredited for a long, long time. I loved how conscientious and respectful the approach in this book was from start to finish. Not only does the author iterate how important it is to be respectful of the environment around us, but how important it is to take specimens with care and respect too and not waste any single part. There's some great equipment mentioned in this book that I never even realised you could get and I highly recommend reading this and taking note from the authors recommendations and suggestions if you are keen to give this hobby a go.

This book was amazing. As a librarian, it especially appealed the part of me that loves to collect and catalog everything in my life. The instructions are all clearly written and easy to understand ever for someone life me with no previous experience collecting and preserving plants. And I was especially pleased with how much the author stressed responsible and ethical collecting. I feel like I'm ready to grab a trowel and some baggies and hit the trails!

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this title for an honest review.

Pressed Plants by Linda PJ Lipsen is an accessible guide to the scientific art of pressing plants. It goes well beyond the simple act of placing a flower between the pages of a book to the fine art of botanical citizen science.

Lipsen identifies supplies and tips that will help the novice collector. From when and where to harvest to what supplies you need. She takes sustainability and needs into consideration, identifying what you need and why, leaving it up to you to determine what tools you really need, based on the goals you have for your collection. She inserts personal anecdotes (cardboard snobbery) and tips to help readers with this process.

She prompts collectors to consider the ethical harvest and to build a relationship with the plants being collected; clearly working from an animist lens in her approach to collection. Some of her advice here might not be for everyone but the spirit of relational reciprocity won't be lost on any avid plant lover. I particularly appreciated her tips about consulting with local Indigenous communities and looking at the local endangered species lists.

The book is small but covers a great deal. From what to note while in the field, to how to weigh down plants while they are drying. This book isn't going to be for everyone, but any beginning herbarium collector will appreciate her sage advice and know how tips. It won't cover more elaborate, artistic approaches to herbarium creations, but it is a sound resource for beginners.

The natural plant world is highly diversified and changeable due to many factors including a changing climate and extinction. Scientists have collected plants for herbariums for around 500 years and scientists value the research and opportunity these collections provide. Herbariums are housed in universities and museums and show those who study them the diversity and details of plants across the world. Anyone with a passion to collect plant specimens can contribute to this research, and Lipsen has written the complete guide to pressing plants. The author explains and demonstrates through illustrations how to collect, press and dry, mount your collection, identify, and preserve and organize your collection. This book is written for the first time beginner who wants to preserve their own garden, but also includes details and information for the advanced specimen collector. The directions are easy to follow, and the tips and tricks offer beginners ideas on how to develop their own collection. I would highly recommend any plant enthusiast get a copy of Pressing Plants to add to their knowledge and passion for our natural plant world.

Thank you to the Royal BC Museum publishing and NetGalley for an honest review of this book.

This review was originally published on NetGalley.com. I was given an ebook freely by NetGalley and the book’s publisher in return for a voluntary and honest review.

Pressed Plants: Making a Herbarium
By Linda PJ Lipsen and illustrator Derek Tan

I have a bad habit of collecting hobbies and after reading this book I want to make my own herbarium. Linda P.J. Lipsen is such an inviting writer. She wrote and described every single thing a person needs to get started in the field. Not only that but Derek Tan’s illustrations are clear and easy to follow. Lipsen starts from the beginning and goes through the entire process of supplies, searching, documenting, collecting, pressing and displaying your plants. She has three separate symbols she uses in the margins to further break down areas in the process that might be confusing.

I dare you to not press at least one plant after reading this book.

This is a very concise guide to collecting, identifying and preserving plants for collection and research archives. Lipsen is thorough and passionate about her subject. She enthuses about the importance of paying attention to the environment and taking specimens with care and respect. She refers to Robin Wall Kimmerer's Honourable Harvest notes from Braiding Sweetgrass. I really liked this. This delightful little book is motivating. I wanted to get straight outdoors and look at what was growing. I think I've found a new hobby.

My favourite hobby this year was really getting into pressing plants (more than just casually doing it) and boy do I wish I read this before diving in learning as I went. I love the the passion and art of it, but I feel like even those who have tried pressing could learn from this too. It goes into detail. But it isn’t too overwhelming either. I really appreciated touching on ethics too. Learnt some great tips. All in all a lovely dedication to one of my fav things to do.
(Thanks NetGalley for ARC)

Pressed Plants
3.5 Stars

I was hoping Pressed Plants would suggest ways to display collected plants for journaling purposes. I remember doing this as a child. I'm wanting to be creative, while this book is more scientific. So not a good fit for me.

This book reads much like a textbook. While the language is easy to read, it's a very comprehensive guide to pressing flowers. I was quickly overwhelmed by so many pages of words, and I've pressed flowers before. I wish there were more illustrations or photos of real plants to breakup space and as reference. The cover is stunning. I wanted more inspiration inside the book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Royal BC Museum, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I use to preserved flowers as a kid but haven't in a long time. So this book came very helpful.. also probably gonna be used in my writing for my character. Because this explains how to do it and everything.. especially talks about how to take care of the flower once it was pressed. I found this book useful/helpful. 5 star book.. Highly recommend it

Comprehensive guide to pressing plants.
The illustrations are a beautiful addition providing critical information.
The language is accessible and easy to read, with clear instructions.
A great reference guide for anyone interested in pressing flowers, with a stunning cover that would make a fabulous coffee table book!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for this ARC. This was a quick, but informative read filled with good information on collecting and preserving plants. I used to do this as a child so it was nice to read about how I can collect them as an adult with an updated book. However, I do wish that the illustrations of the plants were either in color or were photos to make them easier to use as reference.

I LOVE pressing flowers and different plants. I actually used to do it in the microwave however this book made me want to go back to the natural way. Really beautiful.

The instructions are clear and the steps are easy to follow. The interior of the book reminds me of the old books that my grandpa had. Meaning that the plants are roughly sketched.

Kind of boring actually. I was excited to read this but it's all just line drawings and not anything that it could be. Pressed plants can be fascinating, but this should have come with photos and felt more textbook which isn't appealing at all.

This book had the opportunity to be so much for more but for me personally who uses pressed plants in many projects on our farm it fell flat on something that is flat but didn't capture the beauty or awe that they can capture.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher Royal BC Museum the opportunity to read and review Pressed Plants by Linda PJ Lipsen.

As a novice to pressing plants I found Linda Lipsen’s book engaging. The passion for the process and end result is clear to the reader. From detailing the supplies needed to the mounting process I found the book to be detailed but not overly burdensome. Lipsen’s section on the ethics of plant collection resonated with me as a new collector. I would recommend this book to others beginning in their plant pressing journey like me.

This how to book is phenomenal. I got it to try to learn how to properly press plants and I did not disappoint.
The details this author gives about the entire process of plant pressing is mind blowing. Tips and tricks to make this easier on you knowing they went through all of this trial and error. Another detail the Author did not skimp on is the illustrations, as a visual learner this is an added bonus.
This book has what to do before you get the plants, how to care for them, press them, and display them. A book with all the info you could need and want and that makes for a fantastic how to book.

A really useful and informative book which would enable a complete beginner to start this unique hobby as it provides all the information needed to get going! Only downside to this book, I felt, was the lack of photos throughout. I was expecting to see beautiful pictures of what was being explained but sadly there were just a few pencil drawings instead.