Category: Garden, Growing Flowers

Know the Secret to Decorating With Cut Hydrangeas

Hydrangea and lily bouquet
A Bright Arrangement of Garden Flowers

I always wondered if there was a secret to keeping hydrangea flowers fresh once they’ve been cut from the bush.  It seemed that sometimes my flowers would last a few days, but usually they would wilt quickly once I added them to a vase.

Hydrangeas have a sticky substance in the stem and once they are cut the goo blocks the stem and it can’t suck up the water as needed.  To keep hydrangeas fresh and make them last, if you are cutting them yourself, you must have a vase or bucket of water handy to put them in instantly when making the cuttings. Once you have your cuttings, take them inside and move the flowers from the bucket / vase to another container of HOT water and leave them for 10 minutes. This clears the inside of all that sticky stuff so the water will be able to travel up to the bloom. I have done this successfully and my hydrangeas did then last for days afterward.

If you are planning to use hydrangeas to decorate tables or as a centerpiece for a special event, be sure to cut them, and use the hot water method described above, as close to the event time as possible. If you have room in the refrigerator, keep them cool (in water) until needed.

If the bouquet is for decorating your home, be sure to change the water each day to keep the bouquet fresh.

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Hydrangeas Have Long Lasting Blooms

Blue flowers on a hydrangea shrub
Pretty Shades of Blue

One of the reasons I love hydrangeas, is the fact that the blooms last a long time.  Hydrangeas will grow in many areas of the country (U.S.) but they don’t like extreme heat and that is probably why I never saw a single hydrangea when I lived in Florida.  In fact I never knew much about them until I had beautiful bunches of bright blue flowers on the one growing in the front yard of my rental house.  That was when I knew that one day I would have one or ten bushes growing in my own yard some day.

If this was my own yard, I would have a yard journal full of notes from the previous year, but I don’t so I’ll have to say that the hydrangeas begin blooming as soon as they can. Usually in April enough of the snow has melted that I can at least see the bush, but so far this year all I see is small sections of two of the tallest stalks sticking up through the snow. But once the nice weather arrives, the plants waste no time in shooting forth leaves, new growth and buds.

Blue hydrangea flower and bud
Photo taken mid-July

The buds are beautiful, the blooms are beautiful, and even as the blooms fade and change colors, they are beautiful. In my area of New England the buds have appeared and are opening by June and the big flowers are popping out color during July and August. The photo above was taken in mid-July of 2009 which was my first summer living here. That was the year that the flowers were a bright and beautiful blue color.

Cut flower bouquet of hydrangeas
Late summer bouquet

By mid-to-late August the flowers have changed color and make interesting cut flower arrangements. The photo below was taken the end of last summer (2010) and as you can see they contain a variety of blues and purples.

Top 5 Reasons To Grow Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas in front of the Office de Tourisme ...
Image via Wikipedia

If you are contemplating buying something new this year for the flower garden and thinking about a hydrangea, here are my top, five reasons for choosing to add a hydrangea (or 2 or 3) to the landscape.

  1. Easy to care for:  Plant them correctly and hydrangeas will thrive and grow into large plants loaded with blooms.  Add fertilizer occasionally and make sure they get enough water in the heat of summer, and that’s about it.
  2. Hardy:  Many types grow well in cold climates and withstand being buried under a pile of snow for months.
  3. Flower variety:  Flower color can be blue, pink or white and often many shades in between.  I love the light greenish color that appears on mine late in the summer.  One plant can have a variety of lovely color and they are…
  4. Long blooming:  The flowers of the hydrangea begin as pretty little buds and open to gorgeous round or elongated blooms made up of smaller petals which can last for months.  As the flowers age they can turn interesting colors or stay on the stem until they become…
  5. Beautiful dried flowers:  Some types of hydrangea will dry up beautifully right on the stems, or cut them and dry them yourself using a variety of methods.  I hang mine up-side down.
Related Articles

Planting a New Hydrangea Shrub This Spring

Endless Summer Hydrangea
Image by Chiot's Run via Flickr

You don’t need a green thumb to grow hydrangeas, so why not plan to plant a new shrub this Spring. With just a bit of knowledge, you can have a beautiful and long lasting addition to your landscape in the form of big gorgeous blooms.

Once you’ve made the decision to add a hydrangea to your yard, find out which type you’d like to grow and if it is right for your planting / climate zone. There are many varieties and flower types. Most are shrubs but some can be little trees, such as the Pee Gee, so know what you are buying. Decide where you will plant it by searching for a spot in the yard that is free of tree roots and has plenty of sun. Also remember that the plant you buy will grow to be around four Continue reading “Planting a New Hydrangea Shrub This Spring”