How to preserve hydrangeas (limelights in glycerin)

If you have a limelight hydrangea bush, then you need these tips to learn how to preserve hydrangeas so they don’t dry out and crumble all over your floor!

Let me tell you, I have made that mistake and every time my roomba is vacuuming the house and bumps into the plant stand the vase of hydrangeas is on, showers of hydrangeas petals rain down and litter the floor. It drives me crazy because she (my roomba, named Roxie) is supposed to be cleaning up, not creating more messes! But that’s a whole different topic, right there.

This summer was especially hard on my limelight hydrangea bush. It was just an absolute scorcher and the blooms got a little fried. Usually you want to prune your limelights later in the fall and allow the blooms to darken naturally before trimming the blossoms and trying to preserve them. This year, however, I trimmed a littler earlier because the blooms were looking rough.

When you trim the blooms, use a sharp pair of scissors and trim just above a junction on the branch. Then plop them into a tall vase with your glycerin mixture and let them rest for 2-3 weeks.

I’ve read that you can add some food coloring to the water to affect the final color of the hydrangeas so I tried some red food coloring with one stem, but I didn’t notice any difference. It might be that I didn’t add enough coloring, so who knows?

Steps to preserve limelight hydrangeas with glycerin

1. Cut the hydrangea blooms as long as possible.
2. Combine 1 part glycerin to 2 parts water.
3. Smash the ends of the stem with a hammer.
4. Place the stems in the glycerin water for 2-3 weeks, then empty out the water and allow to dry naturally.
5. Display as usual!

You can display the hydrangeas while you are preserving them, just try not to place in direct sunlight. The hydrangeas will turn a golden honey color that will darken over time. Honestly though, no matter how you dry them they are just beautiful and add so much texture to any arrangement.

In fact, now that I’m preserving them and they stay a little better, I’m going to try using them in my next fall wreath, like this one that I made using items from the dollar tree, estate sales and an obliging pine tree.

Happy preserving!

Emily 🙂