Today I show you the two methods I use to condition flowers to extend their vase life by a couple of days. These same methods will also revive wilted flowers.
I was at the garden the other night and I had cut a huge handful of unopened poppies to bring to Betty because I am an excellent daughter.
As I was on my way out of the garden, I stopped and talked to another gardener about garlic, and then another about cucumber beetles, and then another about cucumber beetles and then another about cucumber beetles.
By the time the poppies and I got to Betty's they were looking as limp and exhausted as anyone would be after talking about cucumber beetles for an hour.
As soon as I got to Betty's I implemented the first method of flower reviving and by the next day her limp spaghetti poppies looked like this.
Table of Contents
How to Revive Flowers
Method 1 - Hot Water
The hot water treatment does a great job of getting rid of air that's made its way into the stem.
1. Get the kettle boiling and fill a very clean heat resistant container with boiling water. (any dirt in the container can make its way into the stem clogging it even more.
2. Wrap paper around the stem of the hydrangea to protect the flower from the hot steam. This only needs to be done if the stem isn't long enough to keep the flower tipped to the side and away from the steam and heat of the water.
3. Cut about an inch off the end of the stem and immediately plunge the stem into the hot water.
4. Let it sit for as long as it takes for the flower to refresh. Usually around 3 hours but I tend to do this overnight. See that last set of leaves touching the jug? I forgot to remove those immediately and did so right after I took the photo.
** remove extra leaves so they don't hog all the water**
5. In the morning, or after the water has cooled your flower will be revived and you can put your hydrangea into clean cool water.
Seriously.
Method 2 - The Water Bath
Submerging flowers completely in water is another really effective way to revive or increase the vase life of any flowers.
- Fill your tub or large sink with warm water and lay the flowers down. Leave them overnight or for several hours.
This method is better when you have huge amounts of flowers. It works because it allows the flowers to hydrate quickly using their stems, petals and leaves to take in water.
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Giving flowers a water bath immediately after cutting will increase their vase life.
What Causes Flowers to Wilt?
If a newly cut flower wilts within a day or two or even by the time you bring it home, it's because it was out of water and air has made its way into the stem. Those air bubbles prevent the stem from sucking up water to the bloom.
THIS is why you always read that you should cut stems under water. So no air gets in the stems.
Roses are prime candidates for this treatment to get rid of their drooping heads. You know; when you bring your roses home and within a day their blooms look like they're on the tail end of a bender and are nodding off? This will help that.
What's in Flower Food
Yep. Flower food actually works so don't throw those packets out when you get them.
Flower food normally contains sugar, acid and bleach.
Sugar feeds the flower.
Acid maintains the proper pH balance that the flower likes
Bleach keeps everything clean and helps slow down bacterial growth.
DIY Floral Food
You can make your own floral preservative if you happen to be human with human type things in your cupboards.
Add these ingredients to 4 cups of water and your flowers will be ready to rumble.
FLORAL PRESERVATIVE RECIPE
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon bleach
2 tsps lime (or lemon) juice
(add to 4 cups of water)
How to Revive a Hydrangea
This hot water treatment will revive a wilted hydrangea in a few hours and if you treat your cutting garden flowers with a 5 second hot water treatment, it will help to prevent them from wilting in the first place.
Works with: anything that has wilted prematurely because they were left out of water, grocery store bouquets etc.
Materials
- Boiling hot water
- Heat proof vessel
- Wilted hydrangea
- paper towel or paper (optional)
Tools
- Kettle
Instructions
- Bring a kettle of water to the boil.
- Fill a heat proof vase or vessel with the boiling water.
- Cut 1" off the bottom of the stem with a sharp knife or good snips.
- Plunge the stem immediately into the water.
- Let sit until revived. Typically 3 hours or so.
Notes
- A sharp knife is better for cutting than kitchen scissors because it will slice through the stem instead of crushing it.
- You'll notice bubbles coming out of the stem as soon as you put it in the water. This is a good thing. It's dispelling air that was preventing water from making it up the stem.
- Remove all the excess leaves that you can. You don't want the leaves hogging the much needed water from the bloom.
It works EVERY time. I mean, obviously if you've had the flowers for 2 weeks and they've lived a good long life you should just allow them to die a dignified death of natural causes. But if you bring them home and they wilt within the first couple of days, try sitting them in hot water.
You might just find they were only playing dead.
YOU are a GENIUS for this post. My husband brought hydrangeas home for our 9 year anniversary, before I could put them in water we got into an argument and I left the flowers without water overnight. The next morning, I was filled with guilt for all the efforts he had gone through to get my favorite flowers to me, only to have them look almost dead the next morning. YOUR trick revived them, in turn revived our anniversary. They look beautiful!!! THANK YOU for the time to post this trick!!
Can I use the boiling water method on a potted hydrangea plant? I left it in the sun too long.
Can I put a potted hydrangea in boiling water? I left it in the sun too long and the flowers wilted.
It works 😁
I know! It's like magic isn't it?! ~ karen!
And thanks for including a photo!! ~ karen
Hi Karen, I have some sprayed hydrangeas that have already dipped and put in hot water and they look even worse. I put them back in the cooler after; could that be the reason?
Hi Michelle. You have to cut the ends off, put them in the boiling water and leave them until they perk up. It usually starts within a couple of hours and are fully revived after several hours. Did you do that first and then put them in the cooler, or did you put them in hot water and then put everything in the cooler immediately? ~ karen!
Oh my gosh, this author is hilarious and brilliant! Can't remember the last time I laughed out loud at a blog post.
Same thing will work on Lilacs, btw.....
Ok so question..
The paper towel is soaking up the water?? Is that ok.
Second do you top up with hot water once it cools or you water is only hot at the beginning???
There's no need to add more hot water, just let the water cool naturally and you're good. The purpose of the paper towel is to keep the flower petals from getting scorched from the steam. As long as the paper towel is protecting them, you should be O.K. if the towel gets wet. ~ karen!
Omg! I see this is an old post, but the tip is timeless. So I googled for hydrangea care tips and your piece popped up. I had to try this out today and it worked! And not to mention, the hilarious story that accompanied it provided some good laughs, for sure. ☺️
YUP! It definitely works. :) Glad you got to try it out and see for yourself. ~ karen!
Omg thanks Karen! Your method works like magic!! My hydrangea wilted after few hours i bought it from the store. And with full water it wilted still. I was so panic until i found your article! It revives in 1 hour. And fully perking up at 2 hours. This method is even effective than dunking the petals into the water . Thanks a lot!
Thank you for posting this! I read this post a long time ago - just because I live in south Florida and I love hydrangeas, but they hate south Florida and I've grown weary of buying them just for them to crap out on me within hours of purchase - except today... Today, I was making 40 arrangements for a memorial service for a dear lady and I wanted the main flower to be a white hydrangea. About half way through my arranging them I had to leave for a short time and when I returned, four of the stems had wilted and appeared to be beyond hope (I only bought what I needed and left no room for error, stupidly) remembered this post from you I had read ages ago and so I gave it a whirl and, thanks to you and your marvelous experimentation and willingness to share, all 40 arrangements look beautiful once again and this sweet lady who we will be celebrating tomorrow will be honored with beautiful flowers. It was like watching a miracle happen! They revived within an hour!! Thank tou again for sharing this post!
Oh yeah, and, her step-daughters are from London, Ontario!
Thank you so so much for this tip! I have a baby shower at my house tomorrow and my beautiful blue hydrangeas wilted within hours of buying, trimming and putting them in the case. This saved me even though it seemed totally counterintuitive! Your humor definitely lightened my mood as I prepped as well! Thanks!!!
Vase that is. :)
Oh, lol! I thought you had a very professional setup with a flower case. ~ karen!
I am just wondering: what causes them to wilt in the first place? And....if boiling water works well , would adding sugar or the flower food packet to the boiling water be better?
as far as the alum trick....It was not successful for me. I bought 5 hydrangers on Saturday morning, cut them , dipped them in alum, put them in lukewarm water with floral food and Only one is still alive 72 hours later.
Hi Jules. *I believe* hydrangeas wilt because of a sap they produce that dries up when you cut them. The boiling water dissolves it and allows water to freely run up the stem again. I wouldn't add the flower food packet to the boiling water simply because the method works perfectly without doing that. As the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't sugar water it. ;) karen!
Holy shizzle - it worked!
I know, right? One of my best tips. ~ karen!
At first, I couldn't believe you!!
Putting my died hydrangeas in hot water to revive them? Omg, I tried it any way... Then, 1 hour later, I couldn't believe my eyes!!! I wish I knew you at my first daughter's wedding... I through all the hydrangeas out after they died 2 hour before the reception. A friend of mine ran to homedepot to buy more Flores to replace those sorry- ass dead hydrangeas. Love your post. Thanks so much.
Just wondering what can I do if my grocery store plant is dying before I get the chance to plant it? I think it was watered too much! It was so pretty, and I was hoping to save it!
What a find! This has to be the best helpful tip that I have received this year. My store bought hydrangeas (2 pink, 1 white) were as full as Diana Ross's afro when I brought them home Friday afternoon. By Friday evening, they looked like Diana's afro when it rained on her during her Central Park concert. But when I read this method (skeptically, I may add but then feeling better after I read that 99% of the comments were successful) I was filled with hope. After all, I spent $12 + tax on these "puffs". The following day, Saturday, I was so distraught after awakening and seeing my puffs begging to either be put out of their misery or for me to try something to help them. So, I was holding my breath the entire time. I followed instructions to the letter and this is what happened for me: within half hour one of the pink puffs were stirring up then about an hour later the other pink one was showing signs of renewal. Sadly, the white puff was still on life support. I left it alone until Sunday morning when I awoke. It only looked slightly better than the night before. So, I took it out cut the stem on diagonal and put in boiling water in it's own container. While I was readying for church I kept peaking at it....instant signs of renewal! By time we left for church it was off life support and on it's own! One thousand thank-you' for this post. I am no longer afraid to purchase cut hydrangeas for my tables!
Thanks for the highly entertaining comment Jennifer! Glad Diana's got her fro back. ~ karen!
Same with all the other people here, my girlfriend was desperately finding ways to bring her blue Hydrangea to life.....and found this article!! Here is what happened within a few hours:
Yes, I made a video to share with you all how it magically came back to life!
I thought it wasn't working at first, but it bounced back to life afterwards! Thank you Karen!!!
That's great Geoffrey! Thanks for making the video it was fun to watch. It's like a flower miracle! Glad your girlfriend was able to bring her flowers back to life. ~ karen!
My dad bought me a beautiful flower arrangement to celebrate the day he adopted me. He purposefully had hydrangeas put in it, because they are one of my favorite flowers AND a week ago complained that with in half a day my hydrangeas I had purchased on a whim wilted. So thoughtful he was to do that, but of course I wake up to have my hydrangeas wilted in my bouquet! So I looked up what to do and your site popped up. So far after only 2 hrs they are perking back up!!!! Thank you for this helpful advise. I did cut up the stem so they could consume more water as well!
I just tried the hot water trick. So many people were successful. Boohoo - I was not. I cut (with knife) and put stems in hot water this morning about 8:30. Put a towel around the top of the jar so steam wouldn't rise up to wilt flowers more. It's 5:04 - nothin'. I'll try again but. Just bought the darn hydrangeas yesterday.