What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.
--
Jim S

On 08/10/2014 10:01, Jim S wrote:
What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.



It's apparently not so much the method of drying, as the timing of the
cut. Try this link:-

http://gardening.about.com/od/crafts..._Hydrangea.htm

--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay

On 2014-10-08 09:01:10 +0000, Jim S said:

What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.

You can cut them and hang them up in a bunch to dry out but the easiest
method is to cut them, put them in a vase with water about an inch or
so up the stems and just let them dry out naturally. Top up the water
as necessary until the petals are truly papery.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On Thu, 9 Oct 2014 10:39:35 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-10-08 09:01:10 +0000, Jim S said:

What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower
heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them
dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the
others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.

You can cut them and hang them up in a bunch to dry out but the easiest
method is to cut them, put them in a vase with water about an inch or
so up the stems and just let them dry out naturally. Top up the water
as necessary until the petals are truly papery.

Thanks. That seems to be the consensus.
Is there not a danger of the water going smelly?
--
Jim S

On 09/10/2014 12:20, Jim S wrote:
On Thu, 9 Oct 2014 10:39:35 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-10-08 09:01:10 +0000, Jim S said:

What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower
heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them
dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the
others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.

You can cut them and hang them up in a bunch to dry out but the easiest
method is to cut them, put them in a vase with water about an inch or
so up the stems and just let them dry out naturally. Top up the water
as necessary until the petals are truly papery.

Thanks. That seems to be the consensus.
Is there not a danger of the water going smelly?

Not if you change it or put in a touch of bleach

On 2014-10-09 11:20:28 +0000, Jim S said:

On Thu, 9 Oct 2014 10:39:35 +0100, sacha wrote:

On 2014-10-08 09:01:10 +0000, Jim S said:

What are the current thoughts on drying hydrangea stems and flower
heads
for use in flower arrangements? Years ago I dried something years with
glycerine and it was a sticky mess.
I have a common hydrangea (dwarfish) with three large heads which have
turned colour, some heads in full colour and some still green.
I am tempted to cut the large ones now, strip the leaves and let them
dry
indoors (upright or inverted or does it not matter?). Then leave the
others
until they reach the same stage - if they ever do. No frost up here on
Tyneside, but it cannot be long.

You can cut them and hang them up in a bunch to dry out but the easiest
method is to cut them, put them in a vase with water about an inch or
so up the stems and just let them dry out naturally. Top up the water
as necessary until the petals are truly papery.

Thanks. That seems to be the consensus.
Is there not a danger of the water going smelly?

Not if you remove the leaves. And for successful drying, make sure the
flowers themselves are dry. Choose a sunny day and pick them when the
dew has dried off.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk