I always have floral arrangements inside Maison Epperson. Flowers can brighten up the home but buying flowers regularly can also be costly.
One way to save money is by decorating with dried flowers. One of my favorites are dried hydrangeas. I just love the bulbous blooms!
Tip: Since we have limited space at home, I try to display most of our stuff: from my husband’s amplifiers to my daughter’s electric guitar. Also, when I’m not entertaining, my silver wine bucket doubles as a glorious vase. Dried hydrangeas spilling out of the bucket looks effortless and welcoming.
Hydrangeas make a lovely floral display, but when they’re dried they develop a muted color that look chic especially when pouring out of a silver vase.
Tips on how to dry hydrangeas:
Drying hydrangeas naturally
You can have beautifully dried hydrangeas that are as lovely as any you can purchase. When first starting to dry hydrangeas, I tried all the tricks I’d ever heard of. I slammed them into a hot car trunk, hung them up-side-down in a dry attic, and placed them in water that gradually evaporated. In every case, I ended up with wilted hydrangea blooms. The secret to perfectly dried hydrangeas is very simple. Wait until they are ready before picking them. The timing is much more important than the method one uses to dry them.
While it is tempting to cut the hydrangea blossoms for drying at the height of their color, this doesn’t work. Fresh, recently opened blooms, rarely dry well in the open air. Hydrangeas do best when allowed to dry on the plant before picking them. Experiment with harvesting from August through October.
• Leave blooms on the shrub until late summer. Toward the end of the summer the petals will begin to age and take on a vintage look. If left on the shrub a while longer, many blooms will pick up interesting shades of burgundy and pink. The timing for cooler areas may be much different from this. I’d like to hear feedback from those whose drying experience is different.
• One can cut the blooms, strip off the leaves, arrange them in a vase, with or without water, and leave them to dry. It is not necessary to hang hydrangeas up side down to dry unless the stems are very thin and weak.
• To retain extremely natural hydrangea color, use Silica Gel to dry fresh blooms. Source