The midsummer heat is starting to fade the bright pinks and lavender hues of our hydrangeas to soft mauves and greens. This is when I usually cut the remaining blooms to bring inside to use for decorating. Last year I mixed them with seashells and made summery vignettes (See Summer Decorating: Seashells and Hydrangeas) but this year I've decided to design a few wreaths to hang or give as gifts.
I started by clipping the hydrangeas at daybreak when the blooms were fresh from the evening air. Then over my morning latte, I began stripping the leaves off the flowers and weaving the blooms into a grapevine wreath form I'd purchased at the craft store. As you see, I added the mauve blooms first spacing them evenly throughout the wreath.
Then I worked the green blooms into the empty spaces until the wreath was completely covered with flowers. After I finished, it was misted with water to keep the blooms hydrated as long as possible. It will be misted each day until the hydrangeas start to dry.
Here is the finished wreath! It is now hanging indoors, still fresh and holding its color beautifully. I would expect it to dry into a soft beige tone but I may be surprised. And of course that is part of the fun!
