You Can Dry Your Hydrangeas So You Can Enjoy Them Through The Fall, And Here’s How
Hydrangeas may be summer flowers, but they can be enjoyed in the fall, too! As the colder weather creeps in and their brilliant colors start to fade, bring the elegant blooms into your home to preserve them.
Dried hydrangeas make great fall decorations and add a vintage-inspired element to your space. There are various ways to decorate with them.
For instance, you can place them in a woven basket on your bookshelf, incorporate them into wreaths, or tuck them into a table centerpiece.
Either way, they’ll make a stunning floral addition that you can admire for many years to come. Here are two ways you can dry your hydrangeas.
The first drying method involves water. If you want long-lasting blooms, you have to pick them at the right time. If you pick them too early, the leaves will shrivel up.
Too late, and the petals will turn brown, which will not give off the desired effect. The ideal time to cut hydrangeas for drying is when they have gone just past their prime in late summer.
When the petals appear papery and thin, cut the stems at an angle, leaving at least twelve inches of the stem. Next, remove the leaves and submerge about half of the hydrangea stem in a vase of water.
Keep the vase in a cool area away from direct sunlight, and be sure not to put too many stems in one vase.
There’s no need to refill the water at any point. Let it evaporate, and the hydrangeas will begin to dry out during the process.
Ana – stock.adobe.com- illustrative purposes only
After about a week or two, the water will have completely disappeared, and your hydrangeas will be perfectly dried and delicate to the touch. All that’s left to do is to incorporate them into your fall decor in whatever way you prefer!
Another method of drying hydrangeas uses just the air. Follow the same steps as above, but instead of placing the stems in water, hang each stem upside down and secure them to a clothesline with some twine. Again, keep them out of direct sunlight and wait a couple of weeks.
Once the stems can be easily snapped in half, you’ll know that your hydrangeas are fully dried. One thing to note is that air-dried hydrangeas are a bit more brittle than flowers dried with water.
In just a short time, you’ll have clusters of beautiful hydrangeas you can use to grace your space!
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