Hydrangea & a No Fail Tip to Prevent Wilting
Hi everyone! I’ve not written about my gardens or flower pots this year, but today I thought I share a few ways I’ve used hydrangea in my house this week. Plus, I have an amazing Pinterest tip the REALLY works! I know you’re going to be as excited as I am, if you haven’t already heard about it. I have always loved hydrangea, especially what I call the “snowball” variety that are white in season and then grow slowly pink-ish toward fall. However, they can be difficult to keep hydrated, often wilting in the vase after just 24 hours. I’ve tried additives, pounding the ends of the woody stems, and submerging them in warm water–each of which has worked on some, but not all of my blooms. And 24 hours later I’m dealing with the same wilting problem. Very frustrating.
Hydrangea add a romantic touch to just about any room due to the lacey look and texture of their blooms.
I have several stems nestled inside my ironstone pitcher on my antique dresser in the foyer. These blooms have lasted four days so far and I have not touched them. I didn’t add bleach to the water, pound the stem ends, re-cut them, or remove wilted stems. Are you dying to know my secret? I’ll tell you soon. (Yes, that’s Christmas lights you see in the mirror’s reflection. My sweet daughter asked if we could keep them up, and of course I said yes. I pulled out all the ornaments, so it’s just greens and white lights, but it still looks pretty Christmas-y adorning my staircase.)
Aren’t they pretty? My first bunch of hydrangea earlier in the summer last almost two entire weeks! Can you believe it?
I made another, smaller bouquet to fit in this antique, ironstone sugar bowl. It’s sitting on a shelf in the family room.
I bought the smaller trophy at a “car boot” sale in England, awarded to some lucky fellow in 1945 by the “Bowls Club.”
I really do enjoy the white on white of the hydrangea against the ironstone.
I used several more stems in lieu of baby’s breath, or some other kind of filler, for these lovely pink roses my sweet husband brought me. The bouquet came with some rather garish filler and mustard yellow Gerber daisies–not quite right for these pale beauties. (I used them in another arrangement.)
The hydrangea helps showcase the roses just beautifully.
Do you ever have a problem with roses that fail to open and then droop at the neck? It seems like almost every time, half or more perform badly for me. So I decided to use the tip on both the hydrangea and the roses, though I had no idea if it would kill them or lengthen their life.
This is day number three for my roses–fully open and gorgeous, standing on firm, well-hydrated stems. Ready for the secret?
It’s alum. If you’ve ever made pickles, then you’re familiar with it. It’s a kind of preservative/crisper that has the affect of keeping hydrangea hydrated properly. Dip the end of your stem in water, then in the alum, and then place it directly into a water-filled vase. You can find it with other herbs in your grocery store.
As I was arranging the roses, I thought, “Why not try some alum on the roses, too? The result? It seemed to have the interesting affect of preserving the blooms while jump starting their opening at the same time. I’d much rather enjoy my roses for 4-5 days than watch them slump and stay closed by day 2. Now I can’t wait to try the alum out on lilacs, which like hydrangea, have woody stems. Don’t you just love it when a tip really works?
If you like what you read today, I hope you follow me by email.
Sign up on my sidebar and you’ll never miss a post.
Let’s connect!
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Twitter
Thanks so much for the feature!
Bye for now,
Linking up with these great parties:
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
A Delightsome Life
Share Your Style
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Your Turn to Shine
The Cottage Market
Dream. Create. Inspire.
DIY Sunday Showcase
Share It One More Time
S omething to Talk About
The Scoop
Teach Me Tuesday
Elizabeth & Co.
Dream. Create. Inspire.
Savvy Southern Style
Your hydrangeas are lovely. I have never cut mine to bring in though I had a friend cut several to dry. I’ll have to add alum to my grocery list and try this.
I’ve been enjoying reading about your exploits as you yard sale. My daughter in NH and her husband are experts at finding bargains that way. They also find freebies at the township dumping station that they put to good use at home. The last find was a child’s wooden chair, perfect for their toddler daughter.
I think you’ll be pleased with how long the alum makes them last, Marcia.
Sounds like your daughter and son-in-law and I would get along just great!
What a great idea, I must try it soon! Your flowers are exqusite!
Thanks Gert–you’re going to love it!
Diana, I’m so glad you now have a “post comment” that I can use, because I have been enjoying you for such a long time and I really appreciate the pricing guides you provide and your finds, and this tip with alum is priceless (I’m in Mississippi) I thought it was because our temperatures were so hot, thanks for setting me straight.
Thanks so much for being a faithful reader even though you couldn’t leave comments–so sorry about that, but I’m glad that now you are able. I’m glad you’re liking the price guides; there are more to come!
Thanks for the tip. My hydrangeas are in full bloom and I love to bring them inside and am frustrated by their short life once cut. I’ll get alum today.
I’ve been frustrated by it for years, too, Linda. This tip is going to make you so happy 🙂
What a great idea!! We sure could have used it last summer. Our daughter wanted to use hydrangeas in her outdoor wedding last July. We, too, experimented with all kinds of things, trying to find a way to keep them from wilting after 24 hours. We found that a “squirt” of cheap $1.00 hand sanitizer directly into the water in the vase did the trick. We also did not hammer the woody stems, but left them alone. I cut the flowers from the bush and immediately placed them in plain water. When we got to the venue an hour or so later, we re-cut the stems at an angle and placed them in the vases with the treated water. They were this way over night, indoors, before being placed outside a couple of hours before the wedding started. They looked stunning (as did the bride!!) and we received many compliments on them.
Another great tip! Hand sanitizer–who knew?!
Okay, I’m sure you’re aware of my hydrangea obsession (we have over 15 bushes). And I’ve never heard of this! I even recently tried a method that I’ve seen in blogland – it says to immerse the entire wilty blooms into ice cold water and leave them there for hours! I tried it, and it didn’t work for me! I’m sure we have alum, so I’ll try them with the next batch I bring in! Thanks for the great tip.
xo Kathleen
Yes! I do know of your hydrangea obsession 🙂 This is definitely the tip for you. You are going to die when you see how gorgeous they are and for how long–at least a week. Just don’t forget to keep them watered. I let one bouquet dry out and was bummed.
Thank you so much for sharing your secret!!
Teach Me Tuesday
beautiful love this type of flower we used to call them snowballs beautiful thanks for the tip in helping them last longer as well.
come visit us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Very beautiful Diana. I love this tip! Pinning. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Fantastic tip! I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks so much for your tip about the Alum. Hydrangeas are my favorite so I would love to have them look fresh longer:). Thanks so much for sharing your gardening tip with Dream. Create. Inspire. Link. I hope you will join us again tomorrow night. Take care, Tara
Another tip to keep hydrangeas hydrated and wilt-proof is to set fresh-cut stems into very hot water for 30 seconds (I heat water in the microwave till it’s beginning to simmer), then arrange in your vase of choice.