Harvesting Hydrangeas

October is the best time to cut hydrangeas and preserve them for everlasting bouquets and arrangements.

Unfortunately, I am late this year, so about half of the flowers are brown.

Which is really a shame, because that's why I have so many hydrangea bushes. It is a mainstay in my garden and I look forward to harvesting them every fall. I've even been known to put the dried flowers in our Christmas tree!

There were still a few bushes that had some decent flowers though.

I cut them today to make a few arrangements for a party in our home next Friday.

They ended up in the pine cone urns in the entry.

I just massed them together and made sure the stems were sitting in a pan of about one inch of water.

The young blossoms stand alone in vases.

Although it's not your typical fall vignette, having aged hydrangeas around the house speaks fall to me.

Just one more thing to harvest this time of year!

PS: I left this one on the bush. It was just too gorgeous to cut!

I'm linking up to LaurieAnna's Farmhouse Friday here.