How to store your leaves for winter botanical prints.

It is getting chillier in the evenings and my Cotinus bush is showing signs of autumn as its' leaves are turning brown. If you love eco-printing as much as I do, you will dread running out of leaves to use.

If you have not done so yet, this is the last window of opportunity you will have to collect leaves for the winter period so you can keep enjoying your botanical prints even when it is snowing!

How you should store your leaves greatly depends on what leaves you have available.

Drying. I find that especially tannin-rich leaves work well for drying:

• Eucalyptus

• Oak

• Maple

• Cotinus

• Casuarina

• Acer

• Gingko leaves that are already yellow

Flowers that dry well:

• Cosmos

• Tagetes

If you have space: hang whole branches from the ceiling. If you have less space you can take individual leaves and dry them flat between heavy books.

When they are dry enough to not develop mold; store them in empty pizza boxes that are easily storable under a bed for example. I recommend storing the same type of leaf together. Do not forget to mark outside what's inside, so you save time looking for the right leaf.

Our eco-printing fairy godmother Linda Illuminardi keeps stocks of leaves under a carpet, I have been known to use the mattress of the guest bedroom.

Don't do as I did: I took entire branches of Eucalyptus (the municipality was cutting them back) and put them in an empty suitcase only to find the whole thing covered in stinky mold! Always store leaves fully dried.

For use after drying: gently soak for at least one hour until soft in tepid to warm water. Pat the leaves dry before laying them on your fabric, the water may contain a lot of tannins which could alter your results (muddy prints)

Some leaves become very brittle when dried and that just makes it a problem to rehydrate them without breaking. I use the freezer method for the following leaves:

• Pecan

• Walnut

• Sumac

• Chestnut and horse chestnut.

• Japanese Maples (keep their color better in the freezer)

• Gingko leaves that are still green.

• Eucalyptus blossoms

• Grevillea (they curl up too much when drying)

For these, I use ziplock bags. I rinse the leaves and leave them with a bit of water, put them flat in zip locks, and freeze them flat. Because of the ice forming between the leaves, they will not stick together when defrosting. For even better efficiency use baking paper between sets of 10-15 leaves so you can take out what you need. Don't forget to write the name of your leaf on a label.

If all this is not an option for you, you can always bring a visit to your Trader Joe's or your local florist for some rose leaves, and they usually have eucalyptus as fillers. For some of us, the winter time is also a perfect time to do some other activities like natural dyeing and setting up an indigo vat.

What's your favorite leaf for botanical printing? Let me know in the comments!