Hydrangeas as Cut Flowers

Flower lovers can’t get enough of the hydrangeas. These have become some of the all-time favorites for summer floral designs.

Hydrangeas are available in a range of colors, including pinks, blues, and white. The fresh stems have a vase life of a week to two weeks. The flower heads contain lots of individual blooms arranged in clusters. These clusters are made up of tiny starlike florets.

As a cut flower, hydrangeas are used as a large mass or form flower. The soft texture of the petals also adds aesthetic interest to a bouquet or floral arrangement. Fresh hydrangea stems are generally available form July through October.

The flower heads contain lots of individual blooms arranged in clusters. These are made up of tiny starlike florets.

Hydrangea flower heads are ready to harvest when the flowers are completely open. Doing it too early can cause the flowers to wilt. If you seal the latex that bleeds from the stem when it is cut, the flowers will have a better vase life.

When harvesting hydrangeas from your garden, do this either early in the morning or late in the evening. The flowers can wilt and shrivel if they’re cut during the hottest part of the day. Cut the stems at an angle. Place them in a pail of water right away. The stems should be one to 1½ feet in length. Strip the leaves from the stems.

If you’re buying hydrangea stems, it often helps to place them in hot water
and recut the stems.

When arranging hydrangeas, be sure they have access to lots of water. They do best in a vase or other container full of water. These will likely wilt if floral foam is used.

All sorts of hydrangeas are suitable as fresh cut flowers. These include the oakleaf and the panicle hydrangea as well as the bigleaf hydrangeas.

Both the lacecup and the mophead types look great in floral designs. It is easy to tell these two kinds apart. The lacecups have lots of delicate looking florets around the outer part of the flower head. The center of the lacecup has tiny, insignificant flowers.

On the other hand, almost all of the florets on the mopheads are very showy. The flowers of the bigleaf hydrangea will tend to be blue in acid soils and pink if the pH is low. It is sometimes possible to change the flower color by adding special fertilizers.