Can You Tell Me How to Dry Hydrangeas?

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Can You Tell Me How to Dry Hydrangeas?

Submitted by: armandhammer 08/19/2009 11:04 PM

Can you tell me how to dry hydrangeas? Last year they were all blue this year I have purple, pink,lavender and dark pink plus blue all on the same bush. I have no ideal how to dry them but really would love to know to add some to my flower arrangements.

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Comments:

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i have never done this but i was thinking maybe the microwave??

Posted by jane on August 20, 2009 3:21 PM

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Cut them early in the morning while they are fresh, hang them upside down in a cool, dry, dark place and leave them for a month or so. Or get a large quantity of silica gel and slowly bury the blooms so they retain their own shape, leave for a few days. That should do it.

Posted by anonymous on August 20, 2009 3:31 PM

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I've never done this before, but I heard that if you hang them upside down from a clothesline and let them dry slowly away from the sun they will dry the same color. Hope this helps.

Posted by Juliana on August 20, 2009 3:36 PM

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Pick them when fully "ripe" hang upside down in a place with air circulation. I use rubberbands to wrap around several and hang from a line in basement. If they aren't ready--they will shrivel up and you won't get the big heads you want. I know this from experience. I grow annabelle, they are the white ones and I let them get green and then dry them. Hope this helps.

Posted by Ava on August 20, 2009 4:13 PM

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Hydrangeas are usually fairly easy to dry. Pick blooms in their peak and cut a long stem with it or as much reasonable. You can tie about three together and hang upside down in a warm dry area such as an attic or garage where there is no dampness. Sometimes just hanging them in a house that has the heat on will do the trick, later in the season.
Since the flowers are big, this would be the most reasonable way. They also dry when they get brown on the bush, and you can cut them and then stain, dye or paint them. Try some different mediums. Pressing would be difficult because of the size and complexity of the bloom.

There is also flower drying crystals, or silica jel that looks like sand. You lay the flower in this and gently cover and it draws the moisture out quicker than in damp air. On very humid days, it is difficult to allow anything to dry except over time.

I found the attic to be most reliable of all, but some have done low level microwave and even setting them in a solve on a metal tray with just the piolet light going.

There are also "flower press" books and "flower pounding". It all depends on the look you are trying to attain.

Posted by Cher B on August 20, 2009 5:10 PM

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I cut mine early in the morning, put them in water as in a floral arrangement, and then let the water evaporate.

ANOTHER HINT: If you want your hydrangeas to stay blue, apply "Garden Sulpher" or aluminum sulphate around the drip line in the fall, although the blue ones do change colors as they age in the garden. The fact that you have so many colors on the same bush tells me that your soil is either alcaline, or lime was put in the bed. You can also put aluminum nails into the soil around the plant, and that will do the same thing.

Posted by anonymous on August 20, 2009 5:23 PM

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I asked in the garden shop at Home Depot how to keep my hydrangeas pink, as they varied from white to purple, and he said feed them some lime.

Posted by anonymous on August 20, 2009 5:48 PM

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Hydrangeas are so pretty dried but over time they do lose their color. If you do not like that old fashioned papery look you need to use silica to bury them in. They should look 'alive' when using this process after they are processed. Be sure when you hang them to dry that they are not 'bunched up' to closely together. If you live somewhere humid they might mold.

Posted by Becci on August 20, 2009 8:44 PM

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I've heard that cat litter works well for drying flowers. You might use it to cut the expensive silica.

Posted by anonymous on August 21, 2009 7:46 AM

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It is important to use hydrangeas that have slightly faded. Cut in the morning to get the best result. Run the cut end of the flower under hot tap water for about a minute and immediately make an arrangement with them in a vase half filled with cool water... Allow the water to evaporate totally (may take some time) and the hydrangeas should come out pretty well.

I have tried this quite a few times and it has always worked out pretty well..

Posted by Joe on August 21, 2009 6:38 PM

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I have success with cutting early in the morning, arranging in a vase with a small amount of water and allowing this to evaporate. I also have found that this works best later in the season, the flowers will just wilt if you cut them when the first bloom.

Hydrangeas also make great pressed flowers if you take the individual flowers off the head and press them.

Posted by karen dinunzio on September 10, 2009 6:53 AM

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For years I've just cut the hydrangeas and arranged them in a vase or on a wreath and left them to dry, no water or special treatment. I have some that were arranged in a wreath 10 years ago. They look great but are very dry.

Posted by anonymous on September 14, 2009 2:07 PM

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I use the method of putting them in water and let it evaporate....seems the easiest to me. You can then spray them with hairspray after they are dry, helps to keep them from getting so dry.

Posted by Elaine on December 10, 2009 2:04 PM

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