Re: [SG] Hydrangeas

Pottsey,

This is the nature of this plant - to flop.  You can cut the blooms, which
do make nice bouquets and dry quite well, if you wait until they are mature
to cut them.  But, you will not, so far as I have experienced, get more
bloom.

If you want to have both a fresh bouquet and then dried flowers, cut the
stems the length you need them, remove the leaves and put them in a vase
with about an inch of water in the bottom.  Let them stay there and when
the water has evaporated, they should be nice and crispy and dry and will
last for many months.

You need to wait until they start to fade back to green a bit before
cutting or they may simply collapse on you once the water evaporates - this
is true for all Hydrangeas if you want to dry them - the flowers have to be
mature almost to the point of fading.

Best way to keep the flowers off the ground is to stake the plants early in
the season or give them a nice girdle made of any kind of stiff wire
fencing you've got...or even that heavy green plastic mesh
fencing...attached firmly to stakes.  This is not too decorative initially,
but they soon grow to cover it so you can't see it at all.  If you try to
stake now, you'll end up with a lot of broken stems...voice of
experience...

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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> I have a question.  My Annabelle hydrangea is doing wonderfully!  Full of
> beautiful blossoms and more to come.  However, some of the blossoms are
so
> large that they are almost touching the ground.  Should I cut them off?
> BTW, they would make a beautiful bouquet.  By cutting them off, will that
> help produce more blooms?  Any and all answers are appreciated.
>
> Pottsey
> zone5, OH
> (where we finally got some rain yesterday!)
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