end of summer beauty
September 05, 2017
Garden hydrangeas have to be the easiest flower to preserve and now's the time, or at least near the time, to do just that by air drying. You'll know the time is right when the blooms begin to lose their pigment and start to fade. Our hydrangeas are bright pink in spring and early summer, fading to dusty pink in late summer, to hazy greyed shades of lavenders and pinks when they are dried indoors. Their opalescent beauty brings a hint of nature's fall artistry that is soon to come.
To dry, snip the stem and remove the leaves. Place in a vase and fill water to just one inch above the cut. Allow to dry indoors away from direct heat and sun for a few weeks until the water has evaporated and the petals are papery and fully dry. When dry, they last for months and are pretty in bouquets, wreaths, on the Christmas tree, and limited only by your imagination.
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| Get out the handy glue gun. |
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| Bright pink spring and early summer hydrangeas. |
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| Dusty pink and freckled at late summer. |
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| Bring them indoors to dry and enjoy while they change color. |
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6 Comments
Thanks, Kristen, for the reminder re hydrangeas. I have several varieties in our garden and they are just ripe and right for drying. I'll follow your suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI hope it works for you. I only get a few duds that wilt but most are fine.
DeleteKristen, this is beautiful. We have also done this this year, but are hydrangeas are not looking as lovely as yours. The instructions I went by this year had us put 3" of water in the bottom of the vase. We did this. Previous years I dried the flowers individually, hanging them upside down. That seems to work better for me. To test them, I have cut some more and are drying them by my method, so hopefully, they will look better and be better. We use them as dried bouquets, but the wreathe is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteGreat Cindi. I've dried them upside down before but my variety seems to do best with this method. I'll be looking for pictures!
DeleteThose are the most beautiful dried hydrangeas I have ever seen. I had no idea that pink hydrangeas would turn those beautiful colors when dried. Any extras?
ReplyDeleteCarole? Yes, I'll have some for you!
DeleteYou make my day when you make a comment!