When the bounty of blooms in the back garden is so beautiful, it seems a waste to deadhead the flowers and bid them adieu until next spring.
Naturally, plenty of gardeners turn towards methods of preservation to prolong their plants’ beauty, colour and shape.
To help get started with the task and select the perfect time to do so, gardening guru Anya Lautenbach has shared tips to prolong the beauty of an adored summer bloom: the hydrangea.
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Anya emphasised the importance of timing during the flower-drying process
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The avid gardener, who goes by @anyathegardenfairy online, has shared a hack to prolong the beauty of hydrangeas, warning: “Timing is crucial!”
She added: “The best time to cut and dry your hydrangea blooms is between late summer and mid autumn when the sepals have fallen away and the flowers feel and sound slightly dry.”
If the blooms are cut too early in their lifespan, the petals will have retained too much moisture. As a result, it will be more challenging to dry the petals and “keep their beauty”.
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Method to preserve hydrangea blossoms
- Cut the blooms and remove all the leaves
- Arrange them in a vase, with a little bit of water - between two and three centimetres is enough
- Leave them to dry in a dark and dry place to keep the flowers’ colours and shape
Although it might seem counterproductive to dry out the petals by adding water, this step assists with retaining the colour’s vibrancy.
There are a number of ways to preserve flowers
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However, there are plenty of other options to dry out petals, such as hang drying, which involves cutting the stem, removing the leaves and hanging them to dry upside down attached to a drying rack or hanger, for instance.
Another popular - albeit a tad more expensive - method is using silica gel. First, prepare and place the flowers in an air-tight container, and then cover the flowers with silica.
Leave the container alone for up to a week as the gel absorbs any surrounding moisture while maintaining the flower’s colour and shape.