Flashy Florist shares tips for keeping hydrangeas fresh all summer

All right, welcome back this Wednesday. We are in hydrangea heaven because our friend the flashy florist has turned our set into a sea of summer blues. I'm so excited. We've died and gone to hydrangea heaven. I never want to leave. Full-blown coastal grandmother era right now. Nick Erlacher, owner of the New Britain Flower Shop and the Berlin Flower Shop here to talk all about New England's favorite flower and my favorite flower. Yes. And tomorrow is Carrie's birthday. It's on purpose but I'm very excited. No, I love hydrangeas because they grow great by the coast and I find I'm not good with anything but my hydrangeas are relatively easy once they get going but you're going to show us how we can actually take care of them better. Exactly, exactly and I brought a bunch of different hydrangeas to display today. So let's start over here with your whites and your blues. This is your classic New England white and blue hydrangeas. Is there anything more beautiful? Yeah, no. I really don't. I love how you put the star, the starfish. Thank you. In the bouquet. That's beautiful right there with the bouquet. I wanted to incorporate a few different arrangements with all of the hydrangeas that we brought in but going over here on my left, these are the more exotic hydrangeas that I brought in today for to showcase. So it's not just your typical white and blues. We have our mojito green starting off up there. Is that natural? Does that grow there? Natural, yes. Then on the left we have your shocking blue. Okay, those are pretty. Right next to it we have your aqua blue. I've never seen aqua. So they dye them? Yes, they're dyed like this but how fun for a summer party. So fun. Going down here we have our Victorian antique hydrangea. How beautiful for an English garden type of party. In the bucket next to it we have our mocha, our bronzed, our deep ivory hydrangeas and in the bucket next to that we have our assorted pastels hydrangeas. So hydrangeas just aren't blue anymore. They come in every color for every season. Nick, have you ever seen the dyeing process? So I am not in the dyeing process. Some florists do spray their hydrangeas. Okay, I was wondering if they spray or dump. So these are dumped, I believe. These are coming from, yeah, I pre-order them like this. You know what? You do incredible parties. So if someone said, I want aqua hydrangeas, you would just order them the exact color. Exactly, exactly. We're pretty busy florists. I don't have all the time to sit there and spray every hydrangea. But these are natural and look like they're hand-painted. Yeah, they're absolutely beautiful. So let me give you some tips about how to make your hydrangeas last longer. So let me grab one of these ones right here. So if you're out in your garden or if you get a bouquet, you're always going to want to cut your hydrangeas on a really strict angle. And I sometimes even make an extra slit there with my scissor or my knife so they can drink up more water. Hydrangeas are a thirsty flower. They like to drink and they also drink dirt through their heads. So don't be afraid to give your hydrangeas a bath. Like a dunk? If your hydrangeas are wilted, fully submerge them in the water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Just put them in a bucket and leave it? And I promise you, they are going to come back. There also is a little florist trick. Alum, the powder that you're going to find in the spice aisle. After you cut the hydrangea, you could dip it in the alum powder and then that also helps it absorb the water. So some little tricks like that help it really last. Keep the water clean, keep the water fresh. You're supposed to change the water out like daily, right? Exactly. So also what about like I sometimes let them dry out unintentionally, but sometimes they just dry and they can keep them all year. Is there a right way to dry them so that you can keep them into the fall? So it depends what kind of hydrangea you're talking about. The best ones to dry are like your limelight ones that you grow in the garden like that. Yeah, these ones aren't going to be great to dry out. They're going to wilt right away. Okay, all right. Is it true that one hydrangea stem can do the work of three or four flowers? Exactly. Look how big these hydrangeas are. So that's why we're using them a lot in weddings, parties. They take up a lot of space. So popular for summer weddings here. Well, for my wedding a million years ago, or 22 when you were there, I had only hydrangeas and they're like, you don't want any other flower? I'm like, no, I only want hydrangeas. But the only trick was we had to keep them very watered, but I loved just hydrangeas. Well, and the heat I'm sure doesn't help, right? Like you've noticed that they wilt really quickly, especially in this weather. Yeah, they're a very temperamental flower. I have a wedding this weekend that's all hydrangeas as well. She made me a little extra bouquet, but it was fine. Yeah, we only have a couple seconds left, but you've got these beautiful arrangements here that kind of showcase the different types of colors that you have. If people are looking to do a party or just get something, some summer blooms, they can call you. Call us, New Britain Flower Shop, Berlin Flower Shop. We're located in the heart of Little Poland, New Britain at 141 Broad Street or Berlin Flower Shop, 120 Mill Street. Fantastic. There's all that information. This is absolutely stunning. Carol, which ones are you going home with? She wants the blue ones. I think I like the blue. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you for watching. We'll see you again tomorrow for another hour of power.