Hydrangeas are so showy and beautiful – but they wilt SO easily! This simple little hack (with a video tutorial) will help bring your hydrangeas back to life.
The name hydrangea comes from the Greek “hydor,” meaning water, and “angos,” meaning jar or vessel. Translation: water barrel! These gorgeous pom pom like flowers need water, and when they don’t get it, they wilt.
Hydrangeas have a woody stem that can make it difficult for the flower to get the water that it needs. Trimming the stems at an angle using a sharp knife and adding a small slit in the stem helps it suck up more water.
I used to cut the ends of my flowers with scissors but have switched to using a sharp knife at the recommendation of my friends at Byland’s – apparently scissors pinch the stems, damaging them and reducing the amount of water that they can take up.
We used hydrangea’s as part of our Mother’s Day Fraîche Table and while they were stunning to look at when we first made the flower arrangement, it wasn’t long before they were looking rather sad. This little trick saved me from throwing them away and I was left with flowers that looked fresh and new!
And totally unrelated but interesting, did you know that the colour of the hydrangea is impacted by the pH of the soil? I’m currently trying to transform my pink hydrangeas in my garden into blue ones… for a full tutorial and a bit more information check out this article!
Note that there is a point of no return where a hydrangea, if left to wilt for too long, will not revive. The good news is that this hack is so simple and requires nothing fancy … why not give it a try!?
Materials You Will Need:
- Wilted hydrangeas
- Hot water (almost boiling)
- Vase
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
Directions:
- Bring a kettle or pot of water to a boil and set aside to cool slightly. It should still be very hot. Pour the water into a vase.
- Place the hydrangeas on the cutting board and use the sharp knife to cut the end of the hydrangea at a 45 degree angle. Then cut a small slit vertically up the middle of the newly trimmed stem.
- Place the hydrangea(s) in the vase filled with hot water.
- Let sit for a minimum of one hour and voila! Revived hydrangeas.
xo
Tori
