How to revive wilted hydrangeas – Two methods

Revive wilted hydrangeas and make them last longer

Two easy methods to revive wilted hydrangeas and keep them looking beautiful for weeks with these simple tricks.

Hello friends, Don’t you just love hydrangeas? They are one of the best-loved flowers. Hydrangea bushes and hydrangeas trees are seen all around our neighborhood. They are just breathtaking!

Why do I love hydrangeas?

The large mop head flowers come in blue, purple, pink, and white colors. These beauties change their colors to magnificent deep wine and red colors towards the fall season.

Did you know that hydrangea can be dried and kept for up to a year? You can make a beautiful wreath using dried hydrangeas, and be placed in a vase to add to your fall decor.

What I love about them is that you only need a few big blooms to fill up a vase. A few branches of flowers go a long way.

We planted these beautiful hydrangeas in this large concrete planter we built a few years back. They bloom more and more each year! We get an abundance of beautiful hot pink hydrangeas, which are the highlight of my yard.

That said, hydrangeas can be temperamental once they are cut. Have you ever gone to the supermarket and bought hydrangeas only to come home and they are sad and wilted?

I had purchased some beautiful hydrangeas from Trader Joe’s, one of my favorite places to get flowers. They have a great selection of beautiful flowers at reasonable prices. I bought a bunch of white hydrangeas and eucalyptus branches for an arrangement.

By the time I came home, the hydrangeas had started to wilt and look sad, which made me sad😔.

This is a common occurrence and a few methods exist to revive sad, wilted hydrangeas.

Why do hydrangeas wilt so easily?

First, let’s understand why our hydrangeas get droopy so easily. Hydrangeas love water. They are pretty sensitive, and they tend to wilt when they’re thirsty or when they’re exposed to too much sun or heat. So if your hydrangeas start to look like they’ve had a rough day, most likely they need a good drink.

Hydrangeas love water, if they are out of water even for a moment after they are cut, they will start to lose their vibrancy.

Hydrangea stems have a sticky sap that clogs the stem quickly and prevents them from absorbing the water. This prevents the water from reaching the moppy blooms.

If you can put them in water immediately, you can prevent them from wilting.

Here are two methods to revive wilted, droopy, sad hydrangeas.

There are a few different ways you can revive these blooms. The boiling water method I used is just one of the ways, it worked like magic!

First method: Boiling water method

Gather Your Supplies

You won’t need a lot for this rescue operation – just a kettle or a pot to boil some water, a pair of scissors or a knife, sugar, and a vase to put your hydrangeas in.

• The most effective and the easiest way to revive wilted hydrangeas is quite simple. Remove the leaves from the stems. If you cannot remove all the leaves, that is okay, just make sure you remove all the leaves below the waterline. Leaves below the waterline can cause the leaves to rot. You can keep a couple of leaves just below the bloom to give contrast in color.

• Bring a few cups of water to a full boil and let it sit for a minute, then pour it into a vase.

• Add a teaspoon of sugar to a quarter cup of water. The sugar will give the flowers the nutrients they need to grow and stay robust.

• Next, cut two inches off the stems at a 45-degree angle of the wilted hydrangeas with a scissor or knife to ensure good absorption.

• Smash the bottom of the stem so they can easily absorb the water. (There is a bit of controversy with this part, but I think it works well with the boiling water method)

• Immediately put the wilted hydrangeas into the vase with the hot water. The hot water helps to unclog any blockages in the stems, allowing water to flow freely and hydrate those thirsty blooms.

Watch the magic of wilted hydrangeas come to life

• Now comes the hard part – waiting. Give your hydrangeas some time to work their magic. You’ll be amazed at how quickly they perk up! Within a few hours or overnight, your once-wilted hydrangeas should be looking fresh and fabulous once again. If they don’t spring back overnight, they may be too far gone.

Easy methods to perk up your wilted hydrangeas

Second method: Soaking method

If you don’t want to use the boiling water method, no worries, there are other ways you can try to revive your hydrangeas:

• Trim the stems at a 45-degree angle
• Fill a sink, bucket, or large bowl with cool water
• Weigh down the stems in the water with a lightweight object placed on top for them to be completely submerged.
• The length of time to soak will be determined by how far gone they are. If they are not too wilted, they may only need an hour or so for the blooms to start perk up. If they are still wilted after a few hours, leave them overnight to see if they perk up.
• If they don’t revive overnight, then chances are they are doomed.

And there you have it, folks – the boiling water and soaking method to revive your wilted hydrangeas! Who knew a little hot water or a soaking bath could work wonders for our beloved blooms? So next time you come home to sad-looking hydrangeas, don’t despair – there are ways to bring life back into these beautiful blooms.

Has this happened to you? Do you have other methods to help revive wilted hydrangeas?

I would love for you to share your method or if you’ve tried the ones I have mentioned.

Happy hydrangea rescuing!