The magic of fossil flowers

A profusion of colors in hand-crafted roses, rosals, daisies, sunflowers and anthuriums.
By PAUL ICAMINA
CABARROGUIS, Quirino – From the remote village of Banuar to Tokyo, Joyce V. Leal has come a long way.
And all because of "fossilized" flowers, or preserved blooms made out of ordinary leaves.
"For her dedication and commitment, (she) has contributed in institutionalizing the fossilized flower industry that created employment and increased income of women entrepreneurs" in Quirino, reads her citation from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST technology has turned Leal’s world literally into a colorful business, doubling her sales and workforce, increasing production that now utilize 200 kilograms (up from 100 kilos) of indigenous plants and grasses.
Because of the DOST dyeing technology she was taught, her products are highly competitive because the flowers maintain their deep colors.
Decorative fossilized flowers are made of leaves to make petals; twigs are used for stems.
The leaves are soaked in caustic soda to get rid of the green chlorophyll color. They are then bleached in hydrogen peroxide to transform them into white that can be dyed in a variety of colors.
They are called fossilized because they now have been preserved.
Then Leal does her magic, dyeing the leaves in a profusion of colors and crafting them into roses, rosals, daisies, sunflowers and anthuriums.
It is enchanting because the fossilized flowers come from what were once considered the ordinary leaves of narra, guava, guyabano, mahogany, avocado, jackfruit and alibangbang.
Take the leaves of alibangbang, or the Formosa tree, whose leaves resemble somewhat the shape of a butterfly.
The Formosa tree has traditionally been regarded of no use other than as a shade or perhaps firewood. The fruit is not edible, the flower not decorative and the wood not even considered material for lumber.
And there lies the beauty of Leal’s craft – turning ordinary leaves considered as waste into something a lot more valuable.
"Any leaf, in fact, will do," she says. "But I use these leaves because they are available in our barangay and even in my backyard."
She says the alibangbang leaf is the most durable of the leaves she is currently using.
"We gather about 100 kilograms of fresh leaves from just six trees," Leal says, "and from my backyard alone." One tree provides 25 kilos of fresh leaves, enough raw material to make 100,000 fossilized buds or 50,000 blooms.
After two months, the trees are ready for another harvest of leaves.
Once the leaves are dyed and crafted, they are retailed for about P5 per piece. That’s a lot of money for ordinary leaves once destined to the dustbin or the fire heap.
Leal doesn’t profit alone. Her neighbors also earn by shaping the dyed leaves into fossilized flowers. They earn from P1 (small, medium) to P1.50 (large, extra large) per flower crafted.
Ten neighbors currently craft the fossilized flowers and five harvest the leaves.
Leal doesn’t keep the good fortune to her neighborhood – she has taught many others how to make fossilized flowers. Since February, nearby towns have adopted Leal’s unique handicraft.
Indeed, Leal oversees the production and marketing of fossilized flowers made by similar households and cottage industries in Cabarroguis, Maddela, Diffun and Saguday towns – all in Quirino province.
These towns have made fossilized flowers as their own "One Town, One Product" centerpiece.
As the same time, she has trained 15 members of a Cabarroguis cooperative in the art of making fossilized flowers.
And it all started from a P50,000 grant from DOST Region II for Leal to acquire a 30-kg capacity grass dryer and bleaching tanks. The processing technology came from the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) of DOST.
PTRI improved Leal’s bleaching and dyeing processes and techniques. This helped produced colorfastness and brittleness of the bleached leaves.
DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading (SET-UP) program later provided P157,349 for the acquisition of tools and equipment for the production of novelty items from barks, twigs and branches for the fossilized flowers and grasses.
As a result, sales increased by 100%. Leal’s neighbors had additional incomes too.
To top it all, Leal plans to market her flowers at trade fairs in Tokyo and Dubai this year. InterNews&Features