Today is final preparations for Hurricane Irene, which is due tomorrow here in Rhode Island. When I was going down the list of what needs to be done I suddenly realized I had not "taken in" my hydrangeas for the coming year and if I did not take them in today they would be unusable once the hurricane arrived.
When I say "taking in my hydrangeas" I'm talking about preserving the semi-dried blooms for use in the house from now until next summer.
Here's what I do:
I wait until late August when the blooms are fading and drying on the bush. My hydrangeas are bright blue during their blooming season. At the end of the summer they are many different colors - lovely faded colors like purple, light blue, lilac, even some tinges of green - and the trick is that you want to have them retain these beautiful colors while completely drying.
When I cut a stem off the bush I remove all the leaves and also shake the bloom head to rid it of any insects camped inside.
I've been doing two large bouquets for the house, for one I use a frog for the other I don't.
Fill the containers you want to use about 3/4 full of water. Arrange your hydrangeas and then display them and DO NOTHING ELSE. Let the water evaporate over time - DO NOT refill with water.
I find hydrangeas preserved this way retain their gorgeous colors from the day you picked them, they dry completely and they stay this way until the next August! Pretty amazing.
This arrangement is done with a frog in the bottom of a large silverplate bowl:
This one I just stick the stems in and arrange without a frog:
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