Quick Tips - Hydrangea Conditioning

Hydrangeas are big and beautiful blossoms.  They are commonly used in the industry as a filler for bouquets and centerpieces.  Fillers are flowers that fill in gaps when designing centerpieces and bouquets.  Designing with these blooms will always add a full and lush look to any floral arrangement.  Hydrangea conditioning ensures that its blossoms will last as long as possible once cut.  Premature flower wilting or death is  due to stem hardening.  The stem hardening comes from the stems clogging by a sticky sap like substance. Please see the below steps for perfect conditioning to keep your blossoms fresh and as lovely as possible.

Tools Needed:

1 bucket

1 pruning shear

1 tablespoon of bleach

1  water spray bottle 

1 bottle of Crowning Glory (optional)

Step 1
Remove lower leaves from the stem or anything that would be submerged within the vase. Water logged leaves cause bacteria buildup as they decay.  The bacteria will clog the stems ends and prevent water intake.

Step 2
Fill your bucket up with hot water.  This will help the stem ends to soften the sticky sap like substance and will allow the cut flower stem to take in water. It is very important for you to know when caring for hydrangeas they MUST consume lots of water. 

Step 3
Cut the stem about 1 inch from the bottom in a 45 degree angle.  You want to cut the stem at a angle and not straight across.  This helps for the stem to take in water.  It is also helpful to provide a a little "love tap" to the stem bottoms after cutting, this also helps for the stems to take in water.  Hydrangea stems are very strong they can take it.  You won't have to beat up the stem.  Just a quick hard tap or two will suffice.  I normally just use the top of my pruning sheers and tap the bottom stem once or twice.

Step 4
Place the hydrangea stems in the bucket of hot water after cutting and love tapping.  You will leave them in the bucket for over 1 to 2 minutes.  


Step 5
Place your conditioned hydrangeas stems in a desired vase with warm water and a teaspoon of bleach (this helps to kill any hidden stem bacteria).  Then arrange the flowers to your desired style. If you are working on a event and are using the bucket for conditioning, I would add some cold water so the water can get to a warm temperature.  Yes, you can also add the teaspoon of bleach to the bucket too. Take your spray bottle and mist the flower heads with some water.  Another quick tip is to purchase "Crowning Glory" from any gardening supply shop. Mist the crowning glory on to the  flower heads and set it to dry.  It helps to have a longer shelf life to the blossom.  Just make sure if you use the crowning glory you wait for it to dry before placing the blossoms in coolers of any sort.

For continued flower conditioning in general remember to refresh vase water every two to three days and cutting 1 inch from the bottom stem at a 45 degree angle.  This keeps air bubbles and sap from blocking the stem's absorption of water.