Hydrangea Flowers

Common Name: Snow Ball
Cultivation: Partial shade to full sun in well-drained soil
Colors: Blue, Pink, White
Bloom Time: March, April, May
Uses: Offer a dramatic, large head dried flower
Regions: Coastal regions of India, Mountain regions of Japan, Korea

Cultivation of Hydrangea Flowers
Hydrangea Flowers are easy to grow on well drained soil, which should contain plenty of organic matter or humus. They prefer morning sun and afternoon shade. Avoid planting them in hot, dry, exposed sites. They respond to several light applications of fertilizer during the growing season. After the application of fetilizers water should be applied to help dissolve the fertilizer and send it into the soil.

Drying of Hydrangea Flowers
Dried hydrangea have become very popular in recent years. It is not easy to learn how to select the blossoms at the right stage for drying, a little bit of trial and error will teach the willing learner in one season. Though some varieties never seem to produce good dried flower heads, most mopheads dry many of their flowers naturally if the right conditions exist, a long season of gradual drying in air that is not too humid. These floweers will change their natural colors to shades of plum, mauve, steely blue, dusky rose, amber, brick red, sea green, and other antique colors. These antiques are already dry, just cut the flower head with a small bit of stem, remove the leaves and set in an empty vase to complete the drying process and keep their shape.

They can also be dried by air drying or microwave drying process. Fresh, recently opened blooms rarely dry well in the open air. Hydrangea Flowers do best when allowed to dry a bit on the plant before picking. Leave blooms on the shrub until late summer. Toward the end of the summer the petals will begin to age and take on a vintage look. If left on the shrub a while longer, many blooms will pick up interesting shades of burgundy and pink. One can cut the blooms, strip off the leaves, arrange them in a vase, with or without water. Leave them to dry.
To retain extremely natural hydrangea color, use silica gel to dry fresh blooms.

Dyeing Hydrangea Flowers
One method of coloring hydrangea is with Ritz Dye, which can produce either deep or light shades. After the blooms are completely dried, dye the heads by dipping them in a boiling dye bath. The deepest color can be achieved by making sure that the Rit dye mixture is boiling before dipping the dry hydrangeas. For lighter effects leave the head in dye less time or dip when dye bath is slightly cooler than boiling.

When dyeing older blooms, spot spray the blooms with white spray paint before dyeing. Concentrate spray on the center of each floret. Also, spray the darkened areas of the bloom. Then dip the hydrangeas in the dye bath..

Uses of Hydrangea Flowers
Hydrangea Flowers offer a dramatic, large head dried flower. They are widely used for exotic dried arrangements. They make beautiful dried wreaths.These flowers are immersed in warm water for a minutes before using them in dried arrangements. The flowers become pilable so that they can be torn to the right size and attached to the wreath with little or no breakage. The completed wreath must also be dried again and afterward it forms a lovely wreath. This eliminates breakage and loss of beautiful hydrangea blooms.

Stunning Christmas tree ornaments wreaths and arrangements can be made with hydrangeas. Spray them with gold or silver to give a rich look. Combine them with fresh ivy, nandina berries and holly. On a tree one can use a gold bow with each hydrangea head.