Happy Hydrangeas

Turning on Pharrell’s “Happy” in the background may work on our kids when they’re little, but it certainly doesn’t work on them as they grow older and wiser.

Apparently, hydrangeas are similarly hard to please.

That said, they’re fairly simpler to make happy than any human alive.

That’s where this post begins. With me recently learning how to get hydrangeas look amazing, and last for a while.

A Steal

First of all, note that you can get three beautiful, large hydrangeas at Trader Joe’s for a mere six bucks. I’m not joshin’ you.

So that’s already a steal.

In fact, last time I was at the store, I struck up a convo with the woman standing next to me because she commented on how long I took to pick out my “perfect” bouquet.

“Yeah,” I told her, “It’s not easy being a perfectionist. But it can also be so much fun.”

I told her about my hydrangeas, aa she was holding a beautiful pair, but venting about how quickly they sagged.

Mine lasted a few weeks, I told her, and then described the steps I learned how to take to make them last.

She was thrilled about this newfound info, and so I decided to come here and share it with you, too.

Making people happy is the best!

Once Home

Once you get your hydrangeas in the house, or anytime that they are “sad” again, in their vase (which is what they call hydrangeas when they’re sagging over, kind a looking down) just prescribe them a Xanax. Sorry, doctor humor. I can’t help myself sometimes.

Whenever they’re down, soak their heads in a cold water bath. This is basically waterboarding for plants, if you ask me, except that they like it. Wish we had their magical skills.

Anyhoo, once you do this, pour REALLY hot water into a vase – and I mean practically boiling – bc hydrangea apparently love it hot.

I know, it was hard to believe when I heard it too.

Make sure you’ve trimmed all the excess leaves from the stem of the plant – because they soak up extra nutrients and take it away from the pretty top, arrange a beautiful bouquet, and then cut bottom stems in a diagonal to allow more surface area for water to get absorbed. I also like to cut once vertically up.

Your hydrangeas’s mood will change over the next few hours, as they bathe in their hot water and get to look around their new digs.