Sunday, June 25, 2017

More About Hydrangeas



These are the blooms from my hydrangea that lived through the summer of 2014. The blooms started out dark blue on that plant too, but then turned a shade of pink. 
I've recently gotten a lot of great advice about how to turn hydrangeas blue or pink using products from garden shops meant specifically for that purpose. 
The advice also included putting rusty nails in the dirt, and even coffee grounds were suggested as an additive...though I'm still not sure which color either of those will turn the plant!
These blooms in the photos below were cut from our hydrangea plant bush over a week ago. That's another thing I've learned, it seems everyone refers to the hydrangea as a bush, not a plant.

Anyway, I wasn't sure how to dry them out when I cut them. I did remember hearing if you want to dry them, you should remove the leaves and put them in water. Done! Not to confuse things, but someone mentioned that you can hang them in a dark closet if you prefer.
Originally the flowers were even a darker blue than the ones in this picture below from the blog, Redeem Your Ground (RYG). 
Once planted in a new pot, our hydrandea blooms got lighter and lighter until they were almost a pale green as you can see below... 
Strange thing though, the blooms seem to be gaining their blue coloring back while they've been sitting in water inside the house! See the blue in the photo here? Even Wild Bill mentioned it to me.
Oops, ignore the ladder in that photo! We've got more chores going on here due to the good ole "Fixin' To Do" list. 

And, while I'm confessing...Don't even bother asking why the salt and pepper holder is mixed in with the blooms because I've got no answer for that.
Yesterday, I found a post about drying hydrangeas on Redeem Your Ground and was happy to learn I was headed in the right direction. 

RYG suggested putting them way up, out of the way, and leaving them alone while the water evaporates... and, once the hydrangeas are dried out, spray them with hairspray! 

Crazy, right? You can read RYG's drying hydrangeas post HERE

Meanwhile, I'll be like a mad scientist trying to pound rusty nails in the coffee-saturated soil and mixing up a concoction of acids and/or alkaline to turn my hydrangea blooms pink or blue.


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16 comments:

  1. I have 3 bushes that only get a couple of blooms each.
    Didn't know if you saw my comment in answer to your comment about me being tall.
    How tall did you think I was?
    I'm 5"5'.

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  2. I love this bush or plant depending on how you phrase it. I started with blue as well and as the bush matured it changed to pink, which is o.k. for me too. I do not do any of those drying techniques, I just cut and enjoy, no water or closets, I too like to watch them change colour. My only criteria is spiders, no spiders allowed in dried flowers, once they move in the flower gets tossed. Enjoy your experiment.

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  3. I love these plants and would have more except I don't have a lot of shade. Mine are blooming and I need to cut some and dry them.

    So glad you found some good instructions.

    Have a great week.

    Mary

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    Replies
    1. Mary, all the reading I've done says they do well in full sun/shade and partial shade. We went to Alabama last year and saw them growing everywhere, even outside vacant old houses where they were getting no care at all.

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  4. This post comes at a perfect time! My hydrangeas really need some help, the blooms have gotten small, and seeing how beautiful yours are, reminds me to do that research to find out how to remedy that.

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  5. My biggest problem is keeping the flowers from wilting as soon as I cut them and put them in water. What do you do to keep them pretty in vases?

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    Replies
    1. One of the suggestions was to cut early in morning and put them in water immediately. The RYG blog had different advice. RYG really has some good posts and is easily accessible to search. Try them.

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  6. I love hydrangeas but have not been successful with them down here in South Texas. Any suggestions??

    Love,
    Susan and Bentley

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  7. Can't wait to hear your results. I tried the coffee grounds but nothing happened. Hope you have a wonderful week.

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  8. My poor hydrangea is barely surviving in a bed of weeds and surrounded by iris. As soon as fall gets here (I'm in no hurry) I plan to dig everything out of that bed and start over with the hydrangea. It's pathetic!! I'll have to keep this post in mind and read it again later. :) Dried hydrangeas are beautiful. Hope your turn out good.

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  9. I find myself picking up the gardening bug after reading your blog. Thanks for posting on mine. We could end up talking politics if we're not careful! We've had so much of it in this country right now what with the general election just happening.

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  10. I certainly love hydrangeas and yours are beautiful. I have never seen a color I didn't like'

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  11. Your Hydrangea's are beautiful.. One of mine are giving me the most blooms ever and I'm enjoying them. Now I know how to dry them, so thanks for sharing!

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  12. Yours are beautiful. I haven't had great luck drying hydrangeas. I order mine from growers in Oregon. I find them on eBay. Good luck drying yours.

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