How I Dry Hydrangea Blooms
- Ashley Qurollo
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
June 23, 2025
When we bought our current home 11 years ago, several hydrangea bushes graced the north side of our house, shielded from the intense southern sun. After several years, I ended up removing one of the sickly bushes, and the remaining bush is thriving now.
I have never quite figured out the exact care and keeping of a hydrangea bush. Some years I cut the bush back as far as possible, and some years I forget about the hydrangea until spring when it’s already sprouting green leaves and I can’t bear to prune it. Some years the bush produced hardly any blooms, and some years, like this one, the blooms are unbelievably prolific.
One thing I try to do every year is to save some blooms to dry and then decorate my home with through the fall and winter months. I’m not a pro at drying flowers, but I want to share with you how I dry hydrangea blooms.
Recently, I read in a book to cut blooms at their peak and then immediately hang them up to dry. Frantically, I grabbed my clippers and started clipping blooms, tying them into bundles, and then hanging them up to dry in my closet. Fearful that I had missed my opportunity for dried blooms, I waited to see what would happen to the blooms during the drying process.
You know what happened? They looked terrible! They shriveled and looked pitiful. So I threw the whole lot out.
A few days later, I walked past my hydrangea bush and noticed that the blooms were no longer their vibrant blue hue but had aged into a lovely variegated effect—soft sage, rust, and light blues and purples. I chuckled to myself and remembered that now was the best time to harvest the blooms—when they had started to age on the plant a bit.
So that’s my tip to beautiful dried hydrangea blooms: wait until the blooms start to change into lovely autumn-themed hues on the bush. I have not had success drying peak blue blooms, but letting the blooms age for a bit results in hardy, stiff dried blooms.
Once the blooms have aged on the plant, I simply clip the blooms, leaving about a foot of stem, and then strip most of the leaves off. I tie the blooms into bundles of about 4-5 blooms and then hang them up to dry in a dark place (my closet happens to be where I hang my blooms). The blooms should completely dry in a few weeks.
After about a year, dried hydrangea blooms will lose their color as they age into tan and brown hues, but I still enjoy their shape and presence. I’m grateful for a hydrangea bush to replenish my dried blooms each year!
Someday I dream of having a dried-flower garden. I tried to plant several flowers (strawflower and yarrow) towards that goal, but so far only the yarrow has lazily popped up its little green fronds.
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Come back Thursday for another blog post…
-Ashley
Personal Disclosure
As the author of Ashley Qurollo Blog, all opinions are my own. Any possible applications are universal in nature, not directed at any one individual or people group. My sincere desire is to help others by sharing what I am learning. Nothing stated on this blog is ever intended to hurt others. Ashley Qurollo, owner of Ashley Qurollo Blog and Website, is not held liable in any way for any application of the ideas and thoughts stated here.
Your dried flowers are so lovely! I planted a little hydrangea bush this spring in hopes of being able to dry its flowers someday. So far I'm just holding my breath to see if the plant itself survives all the kid activity that happens around it!
Ashley, thank you for always sharing your home in a refreshingly simple and candid way. I never sense a drive for perfection here, and I feel no condemnation as a homemaker. Your blog is an encouragement because I don't feel threatened here--like I don't measure up.
I also have a hydrangea bush and want to give this a try!