Taking Care of Hydrangeas

I love having fresh flowers in the house.  I try to budget buying one or two bouquets every week at the grocery store so that we can have something fresh in our house at all times.  T thinks it's the biggest waste of money, but it makes me happy, so he can deal.

Nothing frustrates me more than to buy flowers and have them wilt and die within days of purchasing them.  It's a complete waste of money.  And it doesn't bode well in my argument to my husband that flowers are worth the expense.

Last week on a Trader Joes run, I picked up two bouquets of white hydrangeas.  I noticed that they had a little sign in front of them with some instructions, so I snapped a quick photo.  I followed the instructions when I got home, and I am shocked at how well it's worked!  The flowers in the picture below are a WEEK old.

Hydrangea Care: 

1. Cut with garden shears or serrated knife while under water so no air pockets go up the stem

2. Hammer gently to crush the tip, about 1/2 to 1 inch

3. Place in vase and pour 1 Tbsp of any citrus soda in the water.  The acid helps stop bacteria growth and the sugar helps feed the flower

4. Spritz leaves with water to keep them looking fresh

Now, I didn't follow these directions perfectly.  We didn't have any citrus soda, so I used a squeeze of lime juice in one of the vases to test it out.  That vase is pictured below, and you can see those blooms aren't doing as well as the ones in the first picture.  I'll try a glug of sprite in each vase next time to see if it makes any difference.  Each morning I spritz the petals and leaves with water to keep them moist.  I also plan on changing the water out this afternoon since we've just hit the week mark.  But, by the looks of these, I feel confident that they'll be looking good for a least another 3-4 days.  Definitely worth the $5.99 price tag. 

I was so amazed at the success of this, that I just had to share!