How to harvest and dry multicoloured hydrangeas

Something I get asked quite often is how my hydrangea manages to achieve multicoloured status. The above harvest is from one bush. So how do all those colours come into play?

Here is the bush in full summer bloom.

Trust me when I say I do NOTHING to enhance the soil. (I keep forgetting) But maybe that's a good thing. A few hues of purple is how this one starts out. I don't prune hard but only prune to shape the bush, then let nature take over.

While the purple is perfectly lovely, I hang in there until the end of the growing season and wait...

for the petals to turn slightly crunchy. Sunburnt if you will. The blooms fade, creating the most amazing tones, much like changing leaves on a tree. Fall is a beautiful thing.

Now instead of deep purple, you're left with every hue imaginable. This is my favourite time to harvest hydrangeas.

By harvesting, I mean allowing them to dry in water. I just find a container (crate?) of choice, place water filled yogurt containers inside, then arrange.

When I dry them, I actually have intent to leave them in these containers. They tend to slightly wilt into that position which is perfect! The less you handle a drying hydrangea, the better because they are extremely fragile once dry.

Tip: if you wish to dry them for handing elsewhere later, just dry them more separated so you don't crush one side of the petals or break them when they separate.

And the fun part? Finding a place for it all. I'm working on it... :)

This is last year's hydrangea harvest from a different plant that achieved more pastel tones of pink and mint green. Gorgeous!

Check that post out HERE.

Do you dry your hydrangeas each year?

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