In the garden

Gardening

In the Garden

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While I was out looking for hydrangeas to pick for my drying project, I was a little surprised at some of the other flowers.

I’ve had beautiful roses in other yards.  But not at this one.  I’ve attempted different varieties and different parts of the yard.  I thought that they either do not like being so close to salt water or do not like the limestone in the soil.  So I moved them far away from the canal and replaced all of the soil in the new bed.  But still no success and have slowly been digging them up and replacing them.  There are now only two Don Juan’s left and they have both surprised me with one rose each this month.  Perhaps they know that they are the next to go!

In the garden

A plant I have had good results with in the past is the mandevilla.  Last year the one I had bloomed until it frosted.  So I planted two new ones this year–a white one and a pink one.  Both are dead.  What?

The plumeria is a tropical plant which goes dormant.  All the leaves should be off by now and it should look like one ugly branch sticking out of the ground.  But this one is still blooming.  Too weird.

In the garden

And the last surprise is that some of the azalaes are blooming.  I have had them flower as early as Christmas but these started in October.

In the garden

So anyone out there have any explanations for this unusual plant behavior?

 

Drying Hydrangeas

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Earlier this year I attempted drying hydrangeas but didn’t have the correct ingredients.  Some of the flowers dried, other were kind of wimpy.  So I decided to try it again with the right stuff.

I followed the instructions that I found on pinterest for drying hydrangeas.

Dried Hydrangeas

I picked several hydrangeas from my garden.  They aren’t quite as bright in the fall as in the summer but still very pretty.

Dried Hydrangeas

Dried Hydrangeas

Dried Hydrangeas

I found glycerin in the pharmaceutical section at Walmart.  The bottle was 6 oz. so I added it to 12 oz. of hot tap water.

Dried Hydrangeas

Dried Hydrangeas

I pulled most of the leaves off of the hydrangea stems and then used my rubber mallet to smash the ends.

Dried Hydrangeas

Stuck them into a vase and put them in my family room to enjoy while they dried.

Dried Hydrangeas

After five days I pulled the dried stems out.  The two pink hydrangeas didn’t make it but the other three larger flowers looked good and the petals were soft.  I put the glycerin mixture into a old container (marked it) and stored it in my garage for now–the instructions say I can reuse it.  Then I put the dried hydrangaes back into the vase.

Now I’m waiting another week to see if they actually dried or just didn’t die as quickly as the pink ones!  I’ll keep you posted!Dried Hydrangeas