Drying Hydrangeas

Drying Hydrangeas is simple and easy to do. It’s quick and inexpensive to start the process to dry the Hydrangea flowers.

This picture shows an interesting arrangement of Hydrangea flowers that you can also use with dried flowers.

Apart from planting these lovely flowering plants in the garden or in a pot, cutting them for a vase in your home or a special event, you can also dry these lovely blooms to keep on enjoying them after summer has gone.

When I first dried Hydrangea I didn’t follow any specific recipe. It’s really, really easy to dry.

What did I do?
I went out and cut full bloom and full color Hydrangeas to put in a vase… to have lovely flowers in the house. I gave them water like you would any cut flowers. They stayed beautiful for a long time! I have to add that I only used big leaf Hydrangeas (H. macrophylla).

Then somewhere along the way I realized that I forgot to give them water… a stem or two had run out of water and the flowers started drying. Instead of adding more water, I left the water to dry completely.

What Happened?
The flowers dried gradually until one day I realized they were completely dry. By then I stood amazed that the flowers were still so pretty. They changed color and faded a little, but they were beautiful.

Initially I didn’t follow any recipe intentionally, but I learnt that there are things you can do to have a greater chance to succeed in drying Hydrangea.

So what’s the trick?
Here are a few tips for drying Hydrangeas…

The most important part of drying Hydrangeas is not to cut the flowers too young. Later in the season also works better. You can start thinking about cutting them when they are in full bloom with the second small flower open. The blooms will be in full color or just started to fade or change color. You can also leave the flowers on the plant until they are dry.

You can also dry the flowers with silica gel. I have not tried this method but if you are looking for natural and stronger looking bloom colors in your dried hydrangea then this is the method to try.

Displaying Dry Flowers
When the blooms are dry you can use them in arrangements or on their own. Make big arrangements in large pots if you want an old fashioned look. You can show them off in a fresh and different way by putting them in smaller vases or other containers. Place the small arrangements anywhere you like, group them, or put them in a line.

What if You Need More Dry Hydrangea?
If you haven’t been successful drying your Hydrangeas or you want another color than what you have in your garden, you will be happy to know that these lovely blooms are also for sale. You can buy from ebay, flower shops and interior decorating suppliers.


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