If you know how to grow hydrangeas, you'll be familiar with how incredible these blousy blooms, which come in a range of beautiful shades, sizes, and styles, can look in the garden.
But as we approach the end of summer you might be wondering what to do with hydrangeas in the fall.
This idea for displaying them on your table from Head of Gardens, Rachel Bull is so simple yet stunningly effective and your guests will think you've enlisted the help of a professional florist.
Watch Rachel's video on creating a hydrangea table arrangement
'It's hydrangea season and this is one way to style them really simply in your home,' says Rachel. Here she talks us through how to create an elegant and sophisticated summer table centerpiece, using hydrangea heads grown in your garden or bought from a local florist, in three easy steps.
1. Start with a low vase
'You're going to need a low and quite wide vessel,' says Rachel. She picks a large round clear glass vase with a rim, but you can also opt for more colorful versions or simple ceramic ones.
'If you can find one with a slightly narrower neck that's also going to do you some favors because it will give your stems a bit more support,' Rachel adds.
2. Measure the stems
'So we'll take our beautiful hydrangeas,' Rachel uses mophead hydrangeas here, 'and we want to take off these leaves first as they're a bit dominant,' she explains.
'Then I'm going to cut the stem. A good trick is to actually measure it against the vase you've got to see how long your stem is, and you don't cut too much off.' Rachel places her stem upright on the table alongside the vase to measure how much she wants to trim from the bottom.
She cuts it on the diagonal and checks, before trimming a little more and places the stem into the vase.
3. Repeat and display with pride
'For this design we'll use three heads' Rachel says, before trimming and measuring the next two against the height of the vase as before. 'Once you've got them all in they will support each other,' she explains.
Rachel suggests recreating this display a few more times. 'Make three or five of them and place them along the centre of a long dining table.' This makes a perfect long table setting idea for late summer. 'It will just look so effective and is really simple to do,' adds Rachel.
If you have these beautiful seasonal blooms in your garden you'll be interested to read about the hydrangea myths which have been debunked our gardens team. They also have loads of advice on growing and maintaining hydrangeas, from dealing with common problems to dead-heading and keeping them hydrated.
You can't go wrong with a classic glass vessel for a chic and sophisticated display. This one had a slight rim which is perfect for Rachel's hydrangea table arrangement
The frosty texture on this vase isn't just for winter, and will add an extra dimension to your hydrangea table arrangement that sets it apart from a clear glass vessel.
For a more rustic look, this low vintage style terracotta vase has a gray bisque finish which would work well in more natural, outdoor or boho schemes.
