Collected in October, these dried hydrangea (H. paniculata) look as fresh as the day I picked them. Arrange and forget, what can be easier? Eventually, they will lose their color and fade once humidity returns in late spring and early summer.
Meanwhile, in a pretty grape-motif pitcher, they dress up the coffee table, next to a brass vase of cuttings of snake plant (Sansevieria hyacinthoides) and a worn-smooth, quartz ‘worry stone’ picked out of the stream.
Dried pink roses, bits of orange peel, pine cones, balsam fir and bracken fern create a potpourri in a lacy, heirloom Dresden bowl that belonged to my late mother-in-law. The cloth runner was woven by my sister.
Cathy at Rambling In the Garden, hosts a weekly meme to showcase arrangements created from our gardens, indoor or out. Wander over to see what gardeners all over the world are arranging this week.
Eliza Waters 
Love the way you make poetry out of your flower arrangements 🙂
Aw, that is such a nice compliment – thank you, Liz!
Heartily agree! Also, I’m learning a whole lot about arranging beautiful and treasured objects to provide for even more beauty, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, (as was said centuries ago, and still fits). Good work, Eliza!
Thank you, Albert!
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Beautiful collection of memories of autumn and family. I must try to dry some hydrangea flowers, they look so good.
Thank you. Hydrangea really do dry perfectly once the bracts have set in late summer. I wait until a frost is due before picking for the best color.
Thank you for the tip, I’ll try it.
Beautiful palette – cloth included
Thank you, Derrick.
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Beautiful Eliza, from your lovely photographs the Hydrangeas really do look fresh rather than dried, they’re gorgeous.
Thank you so much, Christina. 🙂
such a pretty arrangement – the pot pourri must smell heavenly!
Thank you, Anna. When the potpourri fragrance fades, I add a few drops of essential oil to freshen it up. 🙂
Oh, lovely, lovely! What a way you have with both photography and flowers, dried or fresh.
Thank you kindly, Laurie!
Hydrangeas are my favorites…lovely…..
Thank you, Dor!
Is snake plant also called Mother-in-Laws Tongue? Very sneaky of you! Those hydrangeas are beautiful!
Yes, another common name. Thank you, Kathy. 🙂
Beautiful, delicate color on the hydrangeas.
Thank you, Susie.
Gorgeous Eliza!
Thank you, Mary!
Hydrangeas are my favorite dried flower and you’ve got some beauties! You’ve paired dried memories of things past with the possibility of new life in the snake plant cuttings anchored by the the timeless rock. A terrific combination!
Thank you kindly, Peter! 🙂
The “worry stone” completed the picture for me. Thank you, Eliza.
Thank you, Kim. Quartz is good for grounding! 🙂
What delightful raspberry ripple ice cream colours Eliza – I love them, and your props work perfectly with them. Thanks for sharing
I’m amazed at how fresh and lovely those hydrangeas look, Eliza! The potpourri is a perfect accent too. Your worry stone makes me think I should collect one of my own and keep it handy.
Thank you, Kris. Lord knows how we need to keep ourselves grounded these days! 😉
So pretty! I am hopeful we get some hydrangeas this summer off of the ones I planted this last year. Or off of the ones I plan to plant once all this new snow melts!
Thank you, Sarah. I have a couple still on my wish list, too.
A beautiful composition Eliza. Love the stone to bring some grounding to the delicate blooms and potpourri.
Thank you, Val. The dried flowers keep the energy of summer alive for me. 🙂
Why am I not growing Hydrangeas? Such a beautiful grouping at a time when the garden may not producing much to cut.
True confessions, I got these from the churchyard. 😉 But I do grow H. arborescens and H. querifolia. They are great plants and deserving of their recent popularity. I’m itching to get H. macrophylla… maybe this spring?
What poetic potpourri!
Thank you, Fi!
Really lovely Eliza, Taking me back to summer… or forward! These flower heads have lasted very well. What’s your secret? I always think the picking time is important, but it seems to vary from year to year. I have some from two years ago still looking lovely, but last years just dropped all their petals in the end!
Thank you, Cathy. I’ve had good luck with H. paniculata and H. arborescens (I haven’t tried H. macrophylla). I pick arborescens once the green bracts have firmed up and paniculata just before frost and arrange immediately, then let it dry in place. I think the lack of humidity in autumn/winter keeps it looking fresh. Once it gets humid in spring, they fade to brown and I have to toss them.
What a gorgeous collection. Beautiful, graceful heads and pretty pot pourri. I’m drawn to your blue vase too.
Thank you, Alison!
Just lovely:-)
Thank you!
The hydrangeas look as if you picked them earlier on today Eliza and such fabulous subtle colours too. I can smell the potpourri from here 🙂
Thank you, Anna. I looked at photos I took when they were fresh and they are remarkably similar. I guess my timing was perfect for picking them. 🙂
My first thought, where the heck did those beautiful hydrangeas come from? oh, last year.. great curating job!
😀 Hey, some of us are STILL under snow (my choice, I know, but at least I’m not dealing with spiders, so it could be worse.) 😉
I saw the ‘how many bottles of wine you need for Stella forecast’ still giggling – the black widows in Namibia are still freaking me out!! I would prefer snow.
Exactly!
So much beauty gives a sense of order and calm.
Thank you, Lisa. 🙂
Oh, such pretty colors, Eliza! The pale pink of the hydrangeas and the rose petals are a beautiful combination. I love bringing hydrangea blooms into the house for the winter; as they fade, they go onto the compost pile in the spring, a perfect cycle.
Thank you, Lynn. Use and recycle! 😉
My hydrangeas (paniculata) got a bit battered in a storm before picking time last year, so I didn’t bring any in. This time of year, I really miss them. Next year, I’ll bring some in, battered or not. Your arrangement is visually lovely and I’ll bet it smells just as good.
Thank you, Brenda. It is a winter essential!
A really beautiful composition – all parts making up a serene whole.
Thank you, Anne. 🙂
This has that antique feeling of an old daguerrotype…charming!
Thank you, Ricki!
Lovely colors, and as others have stated, they really do look like fresh flowers.
Thank you, Marsha!