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Drying Hydrangea Blooms

October 31st, 2017

Many years ago I used to dry hydrangea blooms to have in the house throughout the winter. When we moved, I no longer had the masses of hydrangeas in the garden. After adding a few, they’re finally getting to the point where they bloom enough to provide blooms for drying. The key to getting your blooms to maintain their color, is to pick them at the right time. Just as they are starting to dry, but before they start turning brown.

I didn’t get to the ‘Annabelle’ blooms before they started to turn brown, luckily I now have four or five other varieties that bloom a bit later. One of my favorites is a very large flowering variety. It only produced one giant bloom this year, but it aged beautifully in the garden and it dried very nicely. I’m looking forward to having more and more to dry each year from here on out.

I’ve been thinking more and more about flowering for drying as I plan/plant in the garden. Cutting gardens can provide fresh flowers for summer enjoyment and dried flowers to brighten the house during the winter. This winter I plan on researching flowers that are good for drying.

Do you dry any flowers for winter enjoyment? Do you have any good recommendations?

One Comment to “Drying Hydrangea Blooms”
  1. joan on October 31, 2017 at 8:36 am

    I don’t grow any for drying (though I often think about it!) but I usually will gather some sea lavender in the fall. This gives me a nice bit of color through the winter.

    Reply to joan's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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