PAPERWHITES IN BALL JARS

Paperwhites remind me of Christmas. They are elegant and snowy white and organic and have a heady sweet smell.

They mix wonderfully with evergreen branches and twinkling lights. They look stately grouped with Poinsettias and can be a resplendent flurry-of-white when grouped together.

Paperwhites make lovely and thoughtful living gifts that will give the recipient a season of pleasure and blooms! It's especially fun to give a single bulb in a ball jar! Given at Christmas, these flowers will bloom in January and February... just when we all need a little something blooming in our lives!

These showy booms are easy to plant and force and grow. Here's how...

Drying Hydrangeas At StoneGable

Hydrangeas are a gardener's delight. They provide a huge punch of color and panache all summer long!

To see hydrangea table click  HERE.

Graceful and lush, hydrangeas offer big blooms of color and fluff!  If dried correctly they also offer year round enjoyment! The techniques for drying hydrangeas are simple. It is the timing that can be a little tricky. But once understood, hydrangeas dry easily and stay beautiful for a year or more.

    

     

There are several ways to dry hydrangeas. But the easiest way that produces the best results is water drying.

Follow these easy steps for vibrant flowers that are surprisingly sturdy.

Drying Hydrangeas

*WAIT! Correct timing is everything! Hydrangeas can be harvested from August to October depending on your location and variety of  the plant.

Do not pick hydrangeas for drying that have freshly bloomed. There is too much moisture in them and they will begin to die before they dry.

Most hydrangeas will begin to self dry on the bush. When blooms take on a vintage look they are ready to be picked for drying. Some sign to look for are:

~color becomes muted...

~their color will change...

 ~brown or sepia tones appear on  some of the florets...

 ~and flowers begin to get a papery feel. Trust me on this one.

*Cut hydrangeas from bush and strip all leaves.

*Put flowers in a vase filled about one third full of water.  And that's it!

Do not refill the water. Just let it evaporate. If water gets stagnate, replace it with new water to the current watermark.

I put mine in a vase and then in a big basket.  It should not sit near a window (like mine) if you are worried about faded color. I'm moving these to on top of the TV cabinet, but it was too high for a good photo.

Drying hydrangeas by using this method will keep the color more vibrant and the heads less fragile than air drying.

And they are perfect for fall decorating!

This garden friend has been spinning a web on my pink hydrangeas. He is a zipper spider ~ so called because he makes a zipper design on his web. Isn't his art marvelous? They are an impressive size. This one was about the size of a generous half dollar. He is a non poisonous, non aggressive spider (that has very poor eyesight) who likes to hangs out in gardens. And he literally hangs upside down. I delight when I see one of these colorful spiders! They are such a wonder to me!