Why Your Southern Grandmother Always Sprayed Her Hydrangeas With Hairspray

Nothing provides quite the same stunning impact in a floral arrangement as big, beautiful, blooming hydrangeas. Hydrangeas of all colors—blue, purple, white, pink, and red—make their glorious show in Southern gardens in the spring and summer, whether growing lush as a leafy bush, looking charming in a container pot, or of course, dotting the house in vases after being snipped (or picked up from your local flower shop).

However pretty and unique, hydrangeas aren’t known for necessarily being the most low-maintenance of plants, and while our tips for not making common hydrangea mistakes are certainly helpful in the garden, they’re not so much tailored to what happens when you’ve put hydrangeas in the vase. 

Why Use Hairspray?

An unfortunate issue that many people face when trying to keep a hydrangea arrangement in the house, or for an event, is that they can become sad, deflated, and wilted within mere hours or days if you’re not careful. While tips such as putting alum powder in the vase water or dunking the petals under water can help stave off the inevitable, there’s another trick that many savvy Southern grandmothers, gardeners, and florists have been using to keep hydrangeas looking full and fluffy far longer than the usual 3 to 9 days: hairspray. 

How To Use Hairspray on Hydrangeas

Yes, that’s right. Your trusty Aquanet, or more modern equivalent, can be used to sneakily keep hydrangeas looking healthy, full, and alive. When my grandmother, a bonafide amateur florist, told me about the old-fashioned trick, I couldn't quite believe it. But it works!

It’s rather simple and surprisingly effective, and since hydrangeas naturally dry out and preserve themselves in a most pretty way, it only helps the process in the meantime by keeping the blooms looking in tip-top shape. Then, if desired, you can let them naturally dry out and keep the bouquet for weeks, months, or even years. 

Step 1: To start, simply cut your stems, get your vase ready, and grab the hairspray. Give the hydrangea blooms a generous coating of hairspray, spritzing a few inches away in order not to disturb or tear the individual petals. You want to coat the entirety of the round hydrangea blooms, including a bit underneath the petals where they connect to the main stem.

Step 2: Allow the hydrangeas to dry completely (you can hang the blooms upside down to keep them perky), and put in the vase of your choosing—no water needed. 

Hairspray acts to seal the petals and preserve them instantly, keeping their original shape and look while they sit in an arrangement, and later when they dry out completely for a preserved bouquet if you wish to keep them. The sprayed blooms should sit pretty in your vase for weeks or months! 

More Hydrangea Tips

8 Types Of Hydrangeas And How to Grow Them In The South

Learn more about these color-changing shrubs as well as the rest of the hydrangeas that thrive in Southern gardens. There are countless reasons that Southern-favorite hydrangeas are ubiquitous in the garden.

How To Grow and Care for Hydrangeas

There are many reasons why your hydrangeas might or might not bloom in your garden. Here are some common issues and how to fix them. 

20 Dreamy Hydrangea Gardens To Give You Major Inspiration

Whether you're new to growing hydrangeas or you already have them in your landscape, these beautiful hydrangea gardens are full of ideas on how to use them in masses, borders, containers, and paired with compatible plants. 

7 Plants You Should Never Plant With Hydrangeas

We tapped some of the South’s foremost plant experts who shared information ranging from specific varieties to avoid to what type of growth patterns can be problematic for hydrangea varieties.