or hydrangeas as we know them are those types of blooms that you either love or you don't. I have come to search them out over the years as I have become more familiar with their varied colours, bloom size and petal shapes.
When I was growing up our garden was filled with blue hydrangeas, they grew prolifically in the shady areas and were the base for our house flowers at Christmas time. I can't say that I was ever a mad devotee of the blue hydrangea, that is not to say that I didn't like them or don't like them now, but I prefer the muted colours of the murkey greens, the tones of the warm burgundy-roses and the very spectacular whites, when you can find them.
Hydrangeas are not long lasting as cut flowers and require quite a deal of preparation before arranging. That is what I did yesterday....I couldn't resist those heavenly blooms (pictured above) and I wanted to make sure that they last as long as possible. The trick is to crush the outside casing of their wooden stems so that the water can penetrate and they can drink. Hydrangeas are tricky little things and unless they are well treated they become very sorry, sulky little creatures and wilt within minutes; even with long drinks and loving attention they are not the most enduring of flowers.
I have always been a flower 'junkie' and when I love a type of bloom then I love them despite their longevity; one day or ten days in the vase makes no difference to me....I must have them either way. xv
Hello Vicki!
ReplyDeleteI always love your posts on flowers and your photos are always beautiful. Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo
Judith~
Oh, I love hydrangeas too, with whites my favourites, especially Hydrangea Paniculata..but give me the faded, and the lacecap too.
ReplyDeleteYour arrangement is beautiful...
It's strange how superstitions grow up, or maybe just a persons association with a memory. My mother in law won't have lilies anywhere near her...
A wonderful display Vicki, the colors are beautiful....I need this color in miniature for my petite maison.
ReplyDeleteMother & Grandma had Hydrangeas and, when I moved here 10 years ago, a lovely neighbour brought down to me a slip of Blue Hydrangea as a welcome gift.
ReplyDeleteThey were nice for a couple of years but grew and grew, perhaps because I pruned them back to the second bud each year. I should have shifted them to a different place on the plot.
I replaced them eventually with delicate Winter Roses, Hellebores, and they love that shady spot. They're blooming for Winter right now. I love the soft, citrus shade with a touch of mauve.
I always love your flower posts as well. Thanks for the tip on crushing their stems. The things you learn at French Essence! You are truly a mine of information. Enjoy your weekend. xx
ReplyDeleteI love them too, infact I have a stunning bunch of dark pink ones on the dining table of maison no. 20. I was going to post a photo of them today but they are on my desktop and I am using my laptop as I am back at maison de poitiers preparing for a full house of guests...what a contrast to my ex corporate life!
ReplyDeleteBon weekend,
Leeann
Une de mes fleurs preferees!
ReplyDeleteVindication at last! I've always adored hydrangeas and have been howled down mercilessly by others for doing so. You're right, people seem quite polarised on this issue. I will be quoting you to all and sundry. Have a lovely weekend. Meredith xo.
ReplyDeleteI love the blue ones! They go with my vanilla, chocolate and french blue color scheme.
ReplyDeleteI am doing the same for my sister today!
These are one of my favorites, orange roses run a close # 1.
Leslie
Dear Vicki,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on how to handle cut hydrangeas. They are such spectacular flowers!
Beautiful flowers. I do love hydrangeas and that colour is wonderful. What is also wonderful is the glimpse of your dining table and chairs. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers. Must say I have never heard of the name hortensia's though!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
Oh Vicki, thanks so much for the crushing stem tip. I can never remember which flowers prefer which type of cut or crush. I have a bit of a crush on your life...
ReplyDeleteI think it would be wonderful to spend a season in France...maybe have an Olive tree lined driveway and a few hydrangeas around the house...Are you writing a memoir? or a work of fiction? I would like to read it as you know so much about the details that create beauty. Last weekend, I went to the other side of the island for a country dinner with my daughter, and while we sat in the outdoor porch area gazing at the wisteria draped arch, I thought of your blog posts. You do have a connection to flowers, I think. I love them too.
Oh- will you come over to OWL blog and read my last post? I'm writing about the lost teenager me...and I posted a couple of short poems...
Love the elegance of your flower photograph; it's gently understated. The flower does not look like a hydrangea to me because it's so simple. Whenever I hear the name Hortensia, I think of a character...is it Disney...an elephant? (quirky association!!)
Have a love and light filled weekend. <3
i associate blue hydrangeas with the beach and summer - something about the soil by the sea gives them that wonderful blue color - which i adore - to get the same color in connecticut i was told to make the soil more acidic or to hammer an iron nail into one of the roots before I planted the bush- it worked - but it is very hard to find an iron nail these days -
ReplyDeleteI have a love/hate relationship with hydrangeas. They dominate a huge chunk of my postage stamp-sized garden, but they do have lovely everlasting blooms which I use in the winter.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite flowers and they don't stay alive on my terrasse , it makes me very sad
ReplyDeleteI love hydrangeas, but never knew the secret about crushing the stem so they could absorb water - genius! Thank you, Vicki. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteI love all of your flower posts.......have a wonderful, joy-filled week-end.
ReplyDeleteWell, you are just talking my language. Hydrangas are one of my favourite flowers. I grow them in my garden but you need ericacious soil. My son got married in October and my daughter-in-law had the green ones in her bouquet. They looked divine. XXXX
ReplyDeleteWhat's not to love about a gorgeous white hydrangea? I have masses of them and think they are quite lovely. I take whatever colour I can get and any flower will do, anytime. I think you were a florist Vicki in another life, maybe the court florist for Marie Antionette? Makes sense, doesn't it? Have a great weekend. XO
ReplyDeleteVicki,
ReplyDeleteI love hydrangeas. They were my late mother's favorite flower and everytime I see them or receive (I wish!) them I am sure its a small sign of love from her!! Beautiful post.
Happy 4th!
xx-Gina
My grandmother grew blue hydrangeas and they are one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteKirsten
You are speaking my language. I have 54 hydrangea bushes in my front and back gardens. The front garden has pinks and blues. The back garden is all white and just glows in the moonlight this time of year. Eventually, the white blooms turn this marvelous shade of chartreuse and that is the time to make all sorts of wonderful arrangement with them. They will dry just like that in several days. I usually save them to make wreaths for the Christmas holidays.
ReplyDeleteThe blogland fairies are bringing us together today! Your arrangement is so beautiful. And just this morning I also did an arrangement of lilies and hydrangea. Thank you so much for this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually very partial to the blue hydrangea, but those burgundies you've photographed are gorgeous. I don't know that I've seen them before. Hydrangeas don't grow well where I live, so when I find them at low cost as cut flowers, I buy them.
As you mentioned, they wilt fast! This week, though, I tried recutting the wilties and sticking them in warm, almost hot, water for a couple hours. I'm convinced this is the step I've been missing in the past. It has brought back my wilted flowers twice in a week. (And I forgot about crushing the stems--just re-cut them.)
I didn't know these are also called hortensias. Lovely post, Vicki! Your blog is one of my very favorites.
Hello Vicki, your hydrangeas are beautiful. I just cut some of mine for a vase and within hours they looked very sad indeed, I asked my neighbour and she had done the same thing and could not understand it, thanks so much for the tip. "Blushing Bride" is an amazing white hydrangea which has a very slight rose pink tinge, hence the name. it is the best purchase we have ever made. happy weekend, Kathy.
ReplyDeleteI love this dark sultry color. Enjoy these beauties while they last!
ReplyDeleteI love flowers too! And when I moved into my first apartment, the first thing I promised myself was to always allow for fresh flowers by my bed because waking up to nature's glorious beauty is one of life's special treats! Luckily, my husband agrees and the habit continues!
ReplyDeleteDelightful!
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday.
I didn't know that they had two names. They are wonderful and can be dried and enjoyed forever too.
ReplyDeleteYes growing up in Australia they are our Christmas blooms. Certain colours remind me of different people in my childhood. Love the colours in the one in your photo.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend
Alison
I love these gorgeous old-fashioned flowers. There was always a bed of hydrangeas under the tank at my grandmother's place in the country - I always think of her when I see them. Have a lovely weekend. Leigh
ReplyDeleteHow funny -- my post for tomorrow also has a hydrangea arrangement in a glass pitcher -- the blue hydrangeas with white Queen Anne's Lace and red crocosmia -- 'fireworks' for the 4th of July.
ReplyDeleteThe blues that I have will, in time, become rose and bronze -- they're all lovely.
Hello Vicki,
ReplyDeleteLovely arrangement! Didn't know they were called Hortensias, sounds fancy. I like them, in an unusual way! I really like your arrangement.
xo
I too love hydrangeas, the white variety. I currently have them on our entrance table (cut from the garden), but the day after i arranged them, they started wilting! I thought it was due to the unusually warm weather London is experiencing at the moment.... so thank you for that tip on crushing the stem ;-))
ReplyDeletei love hydrangeas as well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy how they change colors through the seasons. Mine are pink in summer and red and green as they get closer to winter.
Your arrangement is beautiful, Vicki.
Happy Weekend.
xo
Brooke
A gorgeous display of flowers Vicki...have a lovely weekend. Ax
ReplyDeleteHere's the ultimate tip for hydrangeas I received from a farmer of my favorite flowers...
ReplyDeletethey actually drink in more water through their blossoms than their stems!!!! WHAT?? Yup its true.
If you place them in a bowl of tepid water, heads down for 20 mins or so they'll remain fresher soo much longer.
I pass this verified in my lab, okay my kitchen, fact to you.
Bonne weekend!!!!
I love how hydrangeas cross all the socio-economic gardening barriers Vicki. Some sit under a piece of black shade-cloth, stretched across a couple of old bamboo stakes in the corner of the most humble of western Sydney homes, tended lovingly by their Owners. Others are presented as huge displays in the grand expanses of a Vaucluse mansion cared for by a Gardener. These beautiful blooms give pleasure to all who care for them in total disregard of a postcode. Your arrangement is a delight!
ReplyDeleteMillie ^_^
P.S. Enjoyed my coffee & croissant this morning with Mr. FF smiling back at me from the pages of the local newspaper. He cuts a dashing figure in his hard hat & site clothes. You must find him totally irresistible!
The hydrangeas with the giant lillies are stunning ... a surprising blend .
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, never really was a lover of hydrangeas but now I cant get enough of them. One florist told me that when the wilt put the stems in hot, hot water for a few minutes and they will spring back, but I have never been that game to try incase I really kill them.
ReplyDeletewhite and green is definitely my favourite, great display xx
Hi Vicki,
ReplyDeleteI love hydrangeas too and the blue variety has always been a favourite! But I will accept pinky purple if you insist!
BEAUTIFUL flowers!
ReplyDeleteV,
ReplyDeletethank you for the secret regarding hydrangeas.
my mom arranges them and will love this tip.
xx
I love hydrangeas - but, only fresh.I once lived in London, in the family home of a South African woman and they had a huge vase of dried hydrangeas. I thought they were dead and deciding to be helpful and clean the house, I threw them out - and she threw me out! Perhaps I am just a stupid Australian as she accused me of being - but I could never consider dried hydrangeas in my house after that.
ReplyDeleteLove the tip for keeping my fresh hydrangeas longer. Love opening French Essence each morning.
xxx
Maureen