Make a flower arrangement with limelights and sunflowers to cheer up your space during those late summer days! Easy and so fast.
Welcome to 20 Minute Decorating…a monthly feature that provides simple ideas for quick decor refreshers, and they can all be accomplished in 20 minutes or less! There are periods of time during the year when our homes become a bit stale. I find that when a season is winding down, a little decor pick-me-up helps matters immensely. We are enjoying the last weeks of summer right now, and it’s the perfect time for limelights and sunflowers. (More on my limelight bushes at the end of the post.)
I picked up a package of five sunflowers at the grocery. I rarely go inside the grocery store these days, but when I do, I always treat myself to a bunch of flowers. To take my sunflowers to the next level, I paired them with fresh cut limelight hydrangeas from my front yard.
Limelights and Sunflowers Arrangement
- Gather your favorite vessel, scissors, sunflowers, and hydrangeas. If you don’t have or can’t get hydrangeas, just use any fluffy white flower that’s available.
- Add water to your vessel and then place the hydrangea stems. (I used seven.)
- Nestle the sunflowers in between the hydrangeas.
- Stand back and make any necessary adjustments.
Tip: Just before you place your stems in the water, give them a fresh snip with scissors.
The thing I like best about flower arrangements like this is the pop of color. The sunflowers are like smiling faces peeking out of the hydrangeas. I placed this pitcher of flowers in our living room, right where I can see it when I’m working or watching TV. Our home was feeling quiet and empty, and this flower-filled pitcher made such a difference. Don’t ever underestimate the power of natural elements!
*Affiliate links included. Click HERE for my disclosure statement.
Limelights and Sunflowers shopping sources:
Blue & white pitcher no longer available | similar pitcher | similar large bowl | Asymmetrical Plate Wall | gold handled scissors | tufted chair | tasseled pillow cover | fall dish towel set
Just in case you are wondering, the pictures above and below show the current state of my limelight hydrangea bushes. They are full of blooms, but once again, the blooms are drooping to the ground. In the spring of 2019, these bushes were trimmed by mistake, and I had no blooms at all last summer. This year the bushes escaped a spring pruning, and even though the blooms are smaller than usual, they are still big enough to weigh down the branches. Another issue is that we just had some rain, which has made the branches droop even more. I have to admit that even with all of their imperfections, I do love the way they look. As always, I will enjoy them now, and hope for a better display next year.
More on my Limelight Hydrangeas
Now let’s look at what my friends are sharing…
My hydrangeas are only a few years old but I noticed recently that rain seems to affect some blooms more than others.
When I looked closer, I realized that by cutting off blooms mid-branch, I have created branches that sub-divide, looking rather like a hand on the end of an arm.
When each of the “fingers” on that branch grow a flower at their tip, that branch is much heavier than the branches that start at the base and grow straight out to a bloom. Three or five wet blooms on the end of one branch are much heavier than one.
My new plan is that any cuts I make will take the branch down to its base in the expectation that it will create a fuller looking plant of sturdy blooms.
Happy gardening!
Your flower beds are beautiful! I planted 15 limelight’s this year and the deer were very happy! I put up tomato cages and Bambi and his family went away. Not really, they ate all my figs! Finally I have 2 bushes blooming and I am so happy! Thanks for the tip about pruning. Take care!
I read a great blog post by Thrifty Decor Chick on how to keep Limelights perkier longer once they are cut. She says to immerse the whole stem and head in a sink of water for 20 minutes so they can absorb the water better and stay prettier longer. It works! My Limelight bush is also drooping from rains and heavy flower heads. That is the only drawback to this beautiful shrub.
Hydrangea are one of my favorite flowers, especially limelights. Here is a link to a photo of one at a lake cottage we visit each year. I can’t wait to go in the fall and pick some after they turn and dry a bit.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3357380844295747&set=a.108078942559303
Beautiful hydrangeas, one of my favorite flowers.The sunflowers just say happy !
Love the limelights and sunflowers together. My limelight hydrangea bushes got pounded by rain several times in the last 3 weeks (which we needed here in MN). Still have enough to enjoy a few inside. In a response to a previous reader, I let my blooms dry naturally on the bush and then pick them. They are great to use in the fall and winter seasons. I even tried lightly spray painting them with various degrees of sucess!
Ann, are your Limelight shedding little white flowers…not the petals but the centers? My Little Lime are superb, but drooping to the ground with all the heavy rains, but I am selling cut stems at the farmer’s market. The only downside of them indoors is the droppings for a few days.
Do you deadhead your Limes at the end of season? Not sure what I will do this year, as when dried, the petals disintegrate altogether. Perhaps a few of your readers could share their experiences.
Diane
Mine also droop after 2 dayside bringing indoors 😢