does anyone know how to successfully dry a hydrangia bloom? I have hung them upside down, but they just wilt into little blobs. If I keep them in a vase of water, then they also wilt and die. I thought I did it once, but haven't had any luck lately. I have a beautiful blue bush and would like to preserve some of the blooms.

All I ever do is put them in a vase of water. If they don't have any water they will wilt. They won't stay as blue though. It does help if you wait until they are starting to dry out on the bush.

Googled "drying hydrangeas". Lots of hits. Here's the link:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...=Google+Search

I wonder if the sand/powder availble for drying flowers would work? :D:D:D

You can ALSO use Cat Litter!!! A florist believe it or not told us to use cat litter to dry my daughters bouquet from her wedding. And we did and have dried other flowers using the cat litter. It has to be the sand kind. Just put some in a rectangle cake pan about an inch....carefully lay your flowers on top of that and slowly and carefully sprinkle cat litter on top of the flowers until they are totally covered. Keep it in a dry place and about a week later they will be dried. Added Bonus....when the flowers are dried...you can REUSE the kitty litter in the cat box. :)

thanks for that. i think mine are ready to cut and dry. i'll start with just one bloom to see.

thanks for the quick responses. forgot about the silicone drying powder, I even have some!

I'm going to try the kitty liter. Sounds like it will work for me.

I dry my hydrangeas every year. I have the blue and a tree. I've found that if I leave the flowers on the plant/tree until almost the end of the season, they dry nicely by just putting them in a vase. If I clip them too early, they wilt and get yukky. The white do turn pinkish/coral and the blue turn to more of a deep purple. I've never been able to keep them absolutely white.

Thank you so very much kooklabell! I thought there was a way of drying them naturally. I really appreciate your response. Now if I can get my husband to stop picking them for me!