the hydrangeas is my question?
I don't know if I like the look of these dried blooms or not. I have had a big crush on hydrangeas these past couple of months and have had the wonderful blues, the dappled whites and the autumn rosy browns in bowls around the house whenever I could. This latest fleur fancy has even got me reconfiguring a garden area and planting a long border of white hydrangeas - I am well and truly under their big beautiful spell.
I just have a little problem when it comes to dried flowers. I save the hydrangeas, I dry them out, I arrange them and then I look at them. I go back and forth not knowing if I like them, not knowing if they look attractive and not knowing whether they look plain triste. I take them away and then I put them back again. I change the vases; I arrange them together and then I arrange them one by one. But I always end up at the same spot....I don't know whether they look pretty or not? As someone who knows exactly what she likes and how she likes it, this indecision of mine is getting on my nerves.
I admit to a pre-conceived notion that dried flowers are for waiting rooms, display areas and old ladies. Why? I have no idea. I grew up in a home where fresh flowers were abundant inside and outside. Perhaps that is my answer? I am regressing to the familiar and fighting the unknown.
Tell me the truth....Are they pretty or are they sad old girls who have seen better days? Should I be cleaning out the vases once more and putting these blooms back in their baskets where they can wait for another session of my indecision? Tell me the truth....To dry or not to dry, xv.
hydrangeas taken by me and awaiting your sentence....
93 comments:
I LOVE dried hydrangeas and have two vases of them right now. I get the square=ish vases and put as many as I can in there. I found the best way to dry them so they stay as close to what they look like alive is to cut from the bush, put in a wee bit of water and leave them alone. They dry well and don't drop petals easily!
Enjoy....they (for me) are the only flower I like dried!
xx
I too ask the same question every autumn when fresh, seasonal flowers are no longer available in the cutting garden. Our bodacious hydrangea bouquet remains inside until replaced by holiday greens & then it's "repurposed" to an outdoor, but protected, container where (from afar) it looks a bit less frumpy.
While I like them better fresh, at least they are attractive when dry unlike roses or daisies. I have dried ones left from this summer looking rather dusty rose and I like the look of them.
I vote "yes." I love your dried hydrangeas.
Flowers that are *newly* dried are a wonderful way to bring a natural element into your home. Another of my favorites for this time of year is dried bittersweet.
Gone are the days of those dusty and faded dried flower arrangements in baskets you are remembering. But "freshly" dried flowers are a lovely way to remember you garden.
Alas, I suffer the same indecision. I overdosed on dried flowers in the early 90's, but even then I was never sure if I actually 'loved' them. Hydrangeas were always my favourite and I had baskets full. NicRose
I like them, to a point. I think the trick is to not keep them so very long. I've some until I decide on evergreens, hollies, & forced bulbs begin to bloom.
Lovely to read that you're planting a special place for them. No garden for some time but beg from friends & buy at farmer's markets.
How lovely...have never really been a fan of dried flowers..but these pics are just so lovely. Enjoy viewing your blog. Thank you for sharing :)
I think they look lovely that was my first impression when I looked at the image before reading the text - I am also a bit dried flower phobic too but the hydrangeas seem to dry beautifully almost looking antique like which I think suits your decor ..
they look lovely. but i would prefer fresh flowers than the dried ones, at any time :)
Well, there is beauty in both. I must confess facing the same indecision. I really think it depends on my mindset at the time. If you have fresh (anything) available, to me, that is preferable to dried. But, I also see beauty in dried. Or maybe I still see them in their full glory and can't let that go...? Have you ever tried drying them in silica? It helps preserve the colors so they look fresh...Sorry, I don't think I have been much help.
I love your blog...it is beautiful.
I love the variation of colors in dried hydrangeas during the fall and have some in my home. They stay until after Thanksgiving, at which point I toss them. Dried flowers in general are not my thing, but dried hydrangeas are a different story.
I too associate dried flowers with old ladies. I vote for enjoying them when they are fresh and luscious!
Now this is burning decor question ha ha.
Hydrangea (Hortensia) is one of the few flowers that looks good dead.
I just hate when people keep any dried flowers around for years and years...
xo xo
Actually I think that they are beautiful... They can stay as you decide, one in each vase or all toghether in a basket but just for a short period! Not for years!!!
i love fresh flowers! But those are incredible!!!
have a great weekend!
Vicki, the color of the ones in the picture are gorgeous. I would say there are dried flowers and then there are dried hydrangeas that retain texture and develop extroardinary color. To me that is what makes them so interesting.
Go ahead dry them, just don't let them get dusty!!!!!:)
Hi Vicki,
I adore hydrangeas, but never dried, all the life has gone . dried flowers are dead flowers and very sad.
Yes Darling, Absolutely yes to dry! I keep mine for a season and replace the following year. xo
Hi I love the look of the dried hydrangeas. When I was a little girl I lived in Queensland's coldest place - Stanthorpe. We had hydrangeas growing along our back steps, near the laundry. I loved hanging on the steps and chatting to my Mum while she worked and when I think of hydrangeas I think of those happy, simple times.
I think the way you have styled them makes them work ... and they do look pretty in that setting.
But I am a little biased when it comes to this bloom.
Christine (the wedding planner) from Brisbane
Sorry for my english
They are so nice, it's remeind me my grand mother's house and it's a wonderfull "souvenir".
And i saw you put them in a vase i know, you schould tell to your "readers" that it is from the french candle " TRUDON ".
Fabulous parfum candles witch will be another " souvenir" for my own children.
I think these would look fabulous in silver containers. Hydrangeas, dried, add great texture. They just do. My mom used to put great armsful of blue hydrangeas into silver pitchers, and just let them stay til dried. They always looked so elegant.
I like them dried. Not all flowers look pretty dried, but hydrangeas do. But you have great taste Vicki, follow your heart, not whatever people think. You're a trendsetter, not a follower. That's why I keep coming here. Hoping some of that rubs off on me!
I luv your display of dried hydrangeas, especially the vases you picked for them. I'm a really big fan of hydrangeas and I tend to preserve them as long as I can.
-marie
I think these would look fabulous in silver containers. Hydrangeas, dried, add great texture. They just do.
Love them and leave them! I have some Annabelles in the vase from a party 2 years ago that are devastatingly fragile and beautiful.
Yours are especially so- la
those are dry? They are lovely!
I've also tried drying flowers and leaves and end up with ugly worn out vegetation. Always hate them. I've even bought sprays to help flowers look fresh but it's no use.
But yours - they are beautiful.
I say, Keep Them!
I love them dried as much as fresh. I think they look wonderful when using just the flower and not the stem, they are piled up in an old crusty urn.
I think the hydrangeas look pretty and stylish. I say keep them! :)
I'm with you. I much prefer fresh flowers to dried. My objection to dried hydrangeas (and I have some) is that they look brownish and I miss the color. C'est la vie.
Sam
I like the look of the blooms... there is something Gothic about dried flowers... Or maybe it's just the beautiful picture!
I think they look beautiful. On the other hand I have had my own issues with them. My problem is that when they dry and are place in a bowl or vase, the first time they are touched they crumble to pieces and make a big mess.
Yours do look pretty there and don't look like they are making any kind of mess.
Hugs,
Sue
I personally LOVE dried hydrangeas. I do not see them as a "step-down" in any way. They stay looking so beautiful for so long when they are dried and are so versatile because of their shape (so round, with almost no "bad" side).
I have large, curvy lidded French apothecary jars full of dried hydrangea blooms, and large bowls full of them, all around my home. At Christmastime, I tuck large heads of the dried blooms into the Christmas tree as the last, finishing touch (often along with large bundles of dried lavender and wheat).
And if nothing else, Martha Stewart utilizes dried hydrangea all the time in decor! That should seal your decision for you! ;)
Good luck deciding!
Ruth
I too am addicted to hydrangeas. I was browsing Velvet & Linen's site the other day and Brooke had soft gold ones in a basket in her new powder room and I asked her about how to dry them, she was kind enough to give me a site where to buy them. But since I have 2 huge bushes in the yard I wanted to find out the trick to this.....I appreciated your advice on crushing the stems to keep them longer, but I still want to know how to dry them so I can have them forever. Such an interesting flower, turning different shades all season long. I think your "girls" look wonderful and have a few more days left in them.
I myself am a huge Hydrangea fan. However I do not like them dried for some reason. Maybe because they are a sad reminder of what was once SO beautiful.. I am not sure. They are also very fragile in this state and seem to drop lots of little things around..
I for one love them in that way too....but my mother always taught me...if in doubt, throw it out....then perhaps that spesific look is not entirely "you"...
I LOVE hydrangeas fresh and I like them dried, up to a point. The key to dried hydrangeas is not to keep them around too long (one month at most) because very slowly and without notice they begin to look like some bedraggled centerpiece in an English tea room.
I think they would be happier out blowing in the breeze - makes me think of a funeral parlor to see them potted like that - though I'm not seeing the entire room, so an out of context view.
No dry hydrangeas...that's for people who never get a chance to have the real ones..if you are in the arctic. You lovely lady should go seasonal and show us how to do arrangements with whatever the season offers us.
xox
Hi Vicki--
I think your eye and your heart are telling you that this concept is a bit 'last year'. Always go with fresh from the garden (or go in another direction).
Dried hydrangeas can look wonderful in a 'country' style way, in an old pottery vase, looking rather messy and uncommercial In a big old white pitcher they could look great in an 'artless' (faux artless) manner.
This hesitation, I think, is that dried hydrangeas, along with other flower concepts have been so commercialized that they now look rather boring. I think the key is to go out into your garden, instead, and pick anything fresh (lemon tree branches or something from the nearest hedge or even dried fennel (non commercial). I'm thinking of things you would never see in a commercial florist--that would look inspiring.
Or...if the garden is not offering forth...place, where you would have had the dried hydrangeas, several antique gilded or crystal candlesticks (the ones with lots of sparkle) and add beeswax candles--and the gold and crystal they will light up the room until flowers return.
Thought provoking dilemma Vicki. I'm with you 100%. If they look like that photo I'd say 'do it'. But sadly I too harbor that preformed impression of dried flowers. My mom always had fresh flowers from the garden. Dried flowers make me think of dust bunnies & my ex mother-in-law. Both not so good xx
p.s.- let us know what you decide!!
Well,
In my humble opinion I think those look lovely...can't even tell if they're dried or fresh....
Well now, that is indeed a question. I think, if you decide not to keep them, they should come my way. I will gladly pay for the shipping. I'm usually not a fan of dried flowers .... but this is the one bloom I would hang onto as long as I could.
I like them. But I honestly think that they only work in rooms with a very neutral decor. These would look pretty sad surrounded by vibrant colors.
I say dry on. I personally don't like any other dried or fake flowers. But, these gorgeous flowers deserve a long life.
xo,
Christina
Fabulous Finds Gal
I am also under the hydrangea spell, they are gorgeous..
If it were me, I would put the fresh and not the dried - I just have a thing for fresh flowers and feels it fills the room with energy. But if it's dear to you that's all that matters, what does your heart tell you to do?
Have a great day, Vicki!
We need to think of mother nature as a provider.Spring and Summer bounty,Fall and Winter renewal. A dry flower is the memory and hope of looking into the future cycle of bounty and start process of keeping that feeling by maybe a dry flower. Is all in youir heart. Love your blog, thank you,thank you!!!!linda (sexy witty)
I love the hydrangeas! They look elegant and I vote to keep them! I love your blog BTW and look forward to your enchanting images and comments!
I live in Maine and every year
I pick PEE GEE Hydrangeas and
the bittersweet is also ready to harvest. Besides the beautiful Sea Lavender that I pick by Harrington Cove.
October is my favorite time.
. So DRY-DRY
and enjoy. Yvonne
Dry for sure- I love them dried! I accidentally dried a large white hydrangea this summer and now I'm hooked.
Hi Vicki.Love the "temp perdu" look of faded hydrangeas. I also love using every last bit of my garden. One of my neighbors has big mop heads of blues and purples, planted with white Japanese anemones, restrained against her house by a boxwood hedge. In a shaded position your white hydrangeas would give you months of beautiful fresh flowers...imagine them glowing in the summer twilight. Trish
Oh Vicki,
That silvery blue color is perfect. Leave them right there!
V
oh darling, I love, love, love hydrangeas... but the fresh ones! I'm sorry... but can't see them dried. xo
Im not a fan of dried flowers usually...they look a little bit too old lady.
But these don't even looked dried at all..they look alive but in a more chic shade. So I vote for keeping these.
How did you dry the so the leaves don't shrivel?
You know, I tend to really dislike dried flowers, and yet, there is a bouquet of limelight hydrangeas in the most beautiful white with rust autumn color sitting in my vintage silver vase in my living room this very minute...
I would also like to say that last autumn, I put a bouquet of faded green autumn hydrangeas in our main floor bath thinking they would be the last bouquet of the season. I must tell you, they survived the entire winter, grew roots (yes, I continued to add water to the vase), and I planted them this past spring. They were the perfect color for that bathroom and it reminds me - I must do that again today so (hopefully) I have another new set to plant next spring!
xx
Honestly? These are still chic in an understated way but I love them fresh! There's something about freshness that injects Life in contrast to being another mere 'object' in the room. My penny's worth of thoughts!
Ah, yet another thing we have in common - lovers of hydrangeas. When I lived a bit north of Atlanta, Georgia, I had fresh hydrangea arrangements in our home during their blooming season. Afterwards, I would keep a few dried bunches - for a while. When I no longer noticed them, I knew it was time for them to go. Ironically, that time would coincide with the beginning of the winter holiday season. In that manner, my soul was ready for fresh blossoms when the next season arrived. So, I say keep them, be at peace, but release them after a bit of time.
such an interesting thought....and kind of funny too......
I love drying flowers because it preserves a part of my garden that I love to tend......but.....where to go with those hydrangeas?
I say a wreath.....they look beautiful as a dried wreath - and besides, it would be only one thing you would take down/put up...
Dry definitely. Everything should be saved and cherished for as long as we can. Old people, old books, old furniture, old dogs and yes, old flowers!
i love hydrangeas in any shape, form or color. i think france grows the most beautiful hydrangeas. the colors are like on others i have seen.
The truth is ...
they are more than pretty. x
Honestly, I wouldn't dry them... I love fresh hydrangeas very much, but I think the drying process destroys their true beauty... x
I like to see them in the winter. Never thought of them as old-ladyish, but know that you mention it...
Oh I so love the dried. I think they are all wonderful and I love the way their colors change when they dry. I would definitely dry. People pay huge money for these lovelies. Hugs, Marty
Vicki, I do tend to like them dried but here is what I do with them....I purchased some spray glitter and gave them a light misting of this and they really look wonderful.
Have a fabulous day :)
LuLu~*xoxo
As a southern hemisphere person myself, I share your commitment to an abundance of fresh blooms, as well as your ambivalence about dried flowers, especially African flowers, which dry out either to become strange, spiky, prehistoric-looking creatures (wonderful), or miserable, shrivelled bits of bark(not wonderful. But....dried hydrangeas are something special which I love to leave lying around, just flat, on tables and chairs...they are delicate, wistful memories, fragments of poems, faded watercolours and whispers of old tafetta..
My vote: to dry!
Hi Vicki, The hydrangeas are gorgeous dried, but you seem more like a fresh-flower person. Maybe that is where the indecision enters. Have a great day.
The dried hydrangeas are lovely. Very lovely. Totally different from the fresh flowers. Delicate and whispy--like a precious moment recalled by a graciously aging, beautiful woman.
I am a hydrangea fanatic. I have planted then all around my home. I have the Lime Light (awesome), white tree hydrangea (gorgeous shape and go green and then dusty pink) blue mop head (my favorite) and pinks. I pick and dry them to use throughout the winter until I can pick more fresh ones. I will put dried heads in fresh arrangements and they look beautiful. I even put the green ones in my Christmas tree. The dried hydrangea are way not old lady, now silk on the other hand.... Yours are beautiful.
I think it's the perfect arrangement you've made concerning the height to the mirror. It looks beautiful! :)
To me, dried hydrangeas that retain some of their pastel hues are quite beautiful -- a sad, faded sort of beauty, appropriate to November -- a kind of rest before the excesses of Christmas decorations.
And then the dried blooms get dusty and fade to tan and you toss them out -- or spray paint them gold and silver and bronze and add them to the Christmas excess.
I have a bundle as well, my sister keeps them in her bookcase in her creamware collection. Wouldn't a huge basket in an unused firplace be good over the Winter?
Leslie
for me, i say stick with fresh. i think dried flowers emanate dried or lifeless energy, and who needs that?
Hi Vicki, I read your blog daily & have never dreamed of leaving a comment for any one obviously so talented as you. But, when it comes to dried flowers , I am compelled to speak out.
There is an american lady with a blog with a large following (who I wont name) . I adore her designs but when she listed photos with the hydrangeas she had dried herself in her beautiful interior space they screamed 'sad old girls who had seen better days'.
While hydrangeas have a beautiful form isnt it really the colours & the fresh whites that are their true beauty ? Would you enjoy looking at them as much in the garden if they were crisp & colourless ?
When you read your post on this your gut instinct is saying NO, listen to it.
Just like food flowers should be enjoyed seasonally, at their very best!
Just my humble opinion
Karyn x
heres what i would do
keep the hydrangas, but not as centerpieces or in vases..
keep them in backdrop areas..
piled in baskets, garden containers, wood boxes..as "say goodbye to summer moments"..you see them but they are only glimpses of summer past..like in a wood crate under a table, with twine and garden scissors..that kind of thing.
you could then use them with simple wrapping to decorate gifts
They're sad, shrivelled, dried out old girls who've seen better days ... would you sit Darling dead aunts around the room ... me either? I too angsted over my adored 'dried' hydrangeas and was coaxed by the FengShui notion of keeping dead things in a house where you want positive energy to thrive ... hope your decision is as easy. xo.
After years of drying my hydrangeas-I decided to enjoy them while they are fresh and perky. After I had dried them, they became a bit messy seemed to attract dust. I do love all of the changing colors but, I'm now happy to have them all over the house during their prime.
I know what you mean about dried ones looking sad. A friend arrived this morning with a bunch of hortensias and some corks as although she does not understand english she saw the photos on my blog.....subtle french hint I think!
That said I may dry mine...
Leeann x
I love them fresh and I love them dried. I think the dried flower arrangements of a few years ago, have had their day but, a few dried hydrangeas, strategically placed, look beautiful.The ones in the photograph are so lovely, Vicki. The blue has a vintage look to it.
Is that your dresser that they are sitting on ? It's so gorgeous as is the mirror. I'm feeling a teensy bit envious again. XXXX
Oh Vicki, this is a conundrum I've had, too! I love the look of yours here, and the thought of drying to extend their life {in a funny way} seems like a kind thing to do, rather than feeling like one's casting something out as soon as its vibrance has gone. But dried flowers feel lifeless to me, which seems depressing. Maybe a compromise is to dry then hang them out in the garden where they can gradually return from whence they came? Bonne chance, Vicki! x
I can understand your indecision Vicki. The dried hydrangeas in the photo are beautiful in themselves. However, you have such an abundance of (and passion for) fresh flowers at your fingertips that is seems a shame not to use them for the most part. Perhaps you could save the dried flowers to use in those rooms that you don't get a chance to visit very often, but still love to be "finished" with flowers. Hope you're having a great week. Meredith xo.
They are all just coming out here in the gardens in Sydney. Beautiful flowers in such glorious colours. I'm afraid I'm a "fresh" girl. I did a dried flower arranging course about 20 years ago and liked them then, but I'm not so sure these days. Fresh for me at the moment.
Good morning Miss Vicki ~ they look pretty good from here! In fact I love how you have singled them out in a row. I love hydrangeas either way, fresh and dried, so I would say enjoy them dried for a few weeks at least.They are one of the few dried flowers worth arranging and I love them in huge arrangements. XO
I so love dried Hydrangeas, but I even love them more spray painted, gold for the holidays with a pot of poinsettia, omg. Hugs
Well, I must admit that I'm biased. My house is surrounded with hydrangeas. I fill my rooms with their blues and pinks and whites in the summer and in August, when they all turn the most wonderful shade of chartreuse, is when I arrange them in several large vases and let them dry just like that. They keep that fabulous colour all through the winter. I think of them as a treat for the barren months! So yes, I think your lavender ones are beautiful!
The soft, papery, silver grey colour is just beautiful, especially displayed on the stone this way! Love them.
I just love Hydrangeas and I'm very excited that their season is just beginning here in Australia! I'll be gathering some very soon to both photograph and paint.
Dried hydrangeas anytime,
even roses,
as long as I have a "relationship" with them.
Infact, I have even sticks and twigs around my house, sentimental objects collected somewhere I want to be reminded of.
I love fresh. When I dry them, they get dusty and I don't like to dust:) that's just me....
xx
callie
I've got the same problem, I allways dry some in october and then when I get them I feel sad and just want to put them away what I do at last.It's like a butterfly in a box or a naturalized bird. Nice to see but dead anyway.
Christian
I like the tragedy of dried flowers - their beauty still remains even if it has transformed somewhat - I think you can work dried flowers in this way but you probably cant mix the two - have you tried?
Hello Vicki from Western Australia,
This is my first visit to your Blog....I purchased "French Essence" recently and feel so inspired as I turn each beautiful page - "My French Life"has been read and reread - and loved - over the past few years....thank you!
I started a shop called "The Calico House" way back in the '80's and some of our most popular craft classes in those early days involved using hundreds of dried hydrangeas in wreaths, topiary trees, victorian posies,etc - all lovely and quite stylish in their day...
I used to enjoy travelling to "the hills" and picking thousands of blooms,filling my little car to the brim and driving home with that distinctive aroma filling my head! I would then dry the hydrangea heads wherever I could find some hanging space and a few weeks later they were distributed to grateful students in their class.
I feel you have answered your question just by pondering the very issue - fresh for now!
Sorry I am a bit late to the party, but I say do what YOU love. You have such exquisite taste and such an eye for beauty do you really think anyone would think less of you for hanging on to these dried beauties...it is just so freeing to trust yourself and also safe when you have such good taste. That said, I do NOT like dried flowers but I also make an exception for my beloved hydrangeas. I love them at every stage. Last year I incorporated some choice dried specimens into my Thanksgiving decor when I noticed they mimicked the iridescent feathers of my taxidermy pheasant and then also ended up using them on my Christmas tree. Personally, I adore your display of dried hydrangeas.
~Jermaine~
DRY THEM! In my humble opinion, I just love dried hydrangeas
I love dried hydrangeas in moderation. I have some now that have faded to a soft pink color. I only keep them around for a few weeks though. I don't like the look of dusty dried flowers.
I think it depends on the style of your house and what looks right (not old-ladyish!)
Although I love having fresh flowers in my apartment, I go to great lengths to find nice silk flowers to use on some occasions--usually in a room that is not used often. I am highly allergic to dust and dried flowers seem to be a dust magnet. I also hate cleaning all the little dried flower petals that fall off everywhere, so I usually stick with fresh or silk.
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