How to Care for your cut Hydrangea

Ok, so blogging isn't our thing, but every once in a while, we come across something that we feel is important to share.

'Tis the season for summer flowers, and one of the biggies is the glorious hydrangea.  Hydrangea often gets a bad rap for for being a flower that doesn't last long.  It's simply not true.

At our store in McLean, VA, we sell and use a lot of cut hydrangea.  We often get compliments from people who receive arrangements with hydrangea in them on how long the hydrangea lasted.

From time to time, a customer will bring the hydrangea that they bought the previous day back to the store, thinking that it is dead.  It's not their fault, the pretty petals are wilting, and at first glance, this would appear to be the case.

What really is happening is the hydrangea is not taking on water and simply needs proper care.

Recently, a gentleman brought in hydrangea that his wife bought to get replacement stems.  We happily gave him fresh stems to take home along with a small container of Quick Dip and reiterated our instructions on how to care for them.

We then took pictures of the stems that he returned and proceeded to give them a fresh cut, a few seconds in the quick dip, and put them into a bucket of fresh water.

Here they are before being conditioned:

They look like they are dead.

After cutting the stems and using the Quick Dip solution, they were placed in the bucket of fresh water.

Poor hydrangea.  

After two hours, we took another picture.  Do you see them coming back to life?

Another two hours, and they looked like this.

At the 6 hour mark, we took another picture.  Wow!  They are beautiful!  Plump and happy, taking on the water that they need!

So, if you buy cut hydrangea, here is what you need to know:

~You should be given a small amount of hydrating solution - if not, ask for it.

~When you get home, get your vase of fresh water ready first - stems must immediately go into water after being cut and Quick Dipped.

~Cut your stems with a sharp knife or pair of snips and put them right into the hydrating solution.  After a few seconds in the solution, place them in the vase of water.

~Check on them in about an hour or so.  If they aren't taking on water, and sometimes they don't, take them out of the vase, give them a fresh cut and dip and put them back into the vase.

~This process can be repeated as many times as necessary.  

So here's to your success with those fickle flowers that we all love!

Happy Hydrangea!!