Hello all,
I want to harvest some flowers now and save them to use in my
classes during the winter. What are your preferred methods to save them?
Some ideas I've had:
1. FAA or 70% Ethanol. This will preserve the structures but
bleach out the pigments. The real downside is that I don't want my students
to have to mess with a preservative, even if it is only ethanol.
2. Freezing. This will preserve the colors, but the petals and
sepals will probably be destroyed. Has anyone tried flash-freezing with
liquid nitrogen? Will this keep the flowers stay in better condition?
thanks for your input,
Doug
Douglas P. Jensen, Assistant Professor of Biology
PO Box 9615
Hollins College
Roanoke, Virginia 24020
(540)362-6549
djensen at hollins.edu
