DIY Hydrangea Floral Centerpiece with Bees & Blooms for Summer

Welcome summer with a table buzzing with bees and blooms! You’ll find flower arranging and longevity tips to create a floral centerpiece using hydrangeas and garden foliage. You’ll also find additional floral inspiration from my Monday Morning Blooms friends.

Happy July!

It’s the first Monday of the month . . . time to gather with my flower-loving friends for Monday Morning Blooms, where we celebrate the beauty of spring with fresh flowers and seasonal inspiration!

We’re happy to welcome back Sarah, from Hyacinths for the Soul,

joining us as a special guest ‘bloomer’ today.

You can my bloggings friends’ links to their beautiful floral and table inspiration at the bottom of this post.

This post contains affiliate links. For more information see my disclosure policy. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you purchase anything through an affiliate link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Our common theme for July’s edition is ‘summer’ and nothing says ‘summer’ more than Endless Summer Hydrangeas.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is a re-blooming variety of bigleaf hydrangea.

Early season flowers are produced from buds on old wood from the previous year,

with the new season’s growth pushing blooms later in the summer.

Endless Summer Hydrangea blooms can be blue or pink depending on your soil’s pH level,

turning blue in acidic soil and pink in alkaline soil.

It was a fun surprise to find a combination of pink and blue blooms on the same shrub. . .

I have no accounting for this other than my apparently haphazard application of acid-based fertilizer in spring!

 North Carolina has been battling a summer of drought. Between the lack of rainfall and keeping a close eye on our well to conserve water, the garden hasn’t produced the abundance of blooms it usually does this time of year. Hydrangeas are heavy drinkers, requiring plenty of water to produce their signature blooms. With our ongoing drought this summer, they’ve been one of the first shrubs to show signs of stress, making this archived centerpiece a sweet reminder of more abundant seasons.

I’m taking a stroll through the archives today to revisit one of my favorite summer floral centerpieces. If you’re a regular visitor, you may remember this bees-and-blooms table from a previous summer. With so many of our gardens showing the effects of a hot, dry summer, it seemed like the perfect time to share this favorite again and enjoy a little floral inspiration while we wait for cooler temperatures and, hopefully, some much-needed rain.

A special thank you to my Monday Morning Blooms friends for indulging this trip down memory lane. 💙

A Table Buzzing with Summer Charm

Regular readers know my love of all things *bee*, including seeing them buzz and bumble around the garden! Nothing says summer quite like bees busily moving from bloom to bloom. They’re the hardworking heroes of every garden, and their cheerful presence inspired this lakeside table filled with flowers, textures, and bee-themed details.

The table begins with MacKenzie-Childs Thistle & Bee dinner plates for a colorful and relaxed summer look. Bee motifs mingle with botanical accents to celebrate the beauty of the season and the pollinators that help our gardens flourish.

The four assorted floral plates are served on chargers and framed by black and white checked round placemats.

It’s an easy table to recreate for a casual lunch with friends, an afternoon on the porch, or alfresco dinner overlooking the water.

🐝🌸💐

Embroidered bee napkins are framed by a laurel leaf design  . . .

Bees are buzzing on Napoleon Bee Flatware . . .

my favorite flatware for summer and gardening season. 🐝🌸

And Honeycomb Goblets were an addition to my apiary a few years ago. 🐝

 Bee magnets got a 2-minute makeover, adding some silver highlights,

transforming them with Rub ‘n Buff.

You can find the quick and easy details HERE.

The enamel surface of the MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check Napkin Rings

make them the perfect candidate to buzz with bees! 🐝

Creating a Garden-Inspired Floral Centerpiece

The centerpiece is filled with fresh hydrangeas gathered from the garden, accented with greenery to create a loose, natural arrangement that looks as though it was gathered fresh from a summer stroll.

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers to arrange because they provide beautiful volume with only a few stems. Adding different textures of foliage creates movement and gives the arrangement an effortless, garden-inspired feel.

In addition to hydrangeas, I used some garden foliage. . . Baptisia (False Indigo) along with variegated Kaleidoscope Abelia, Hosta leaves and spikes of white Veronica (Speedwell) to create a centerpiece for my table. . .

And I’m sharing some flower arranging and longevity tips if you’d like to create a floral centerpiece for your table.

🌸 Tip 1 :

🌸 When cutting flowers and or foliage from your garden or landscape, cut your stems in the early morning with they’re fully hydrated and not stressed from the heat.

🌸 Strip all the leaves below the water line and place them in a clean bucket of water mixed with flower food / preservative, in a cool spot, away from sun.

🌸 Allow the flowers and foliage to condition, preferably overnight, or for a minimum of 4 hours, to prevent drooping or wilting of your stems.

🌸 Tip 2: Use Alum!

🌸 Hydrangeas are notorious for wilting and alum allows hydrangeas (and other flowers) draw more water. Cut each stem at a 45 degree angle for maximum water uptake and dip 1/2 inch of each cut stem in alum powder. Keep an alum container dedicated to dip your stems, otherwise transfer some to another container to prevent contamination.

🌸 Place your dipped hydrangea stems in your water mixed with flower food/preservative.

🌸 For best results, remove the leaves from hydrangeas since they cause evaporation loss and take water from the head of the flower.

🌸 Hydrangeas are thirsty flowers, so check your water level frequently, especially the first day, topping off as needed.

A note to the floral foam police :

Whenever possible, I shy away from wet floral foam, preferring to use chicken wire for flower arranging as it’s eco-friendly and reusable.

 For this arrangement wet floral foam provided a better base, holding the hydrangeas securely in the sides of the arrangement.

Begin building your arrangement with your greenery to provide the overall shape of your arrangement. I used some Abelia and Baptisia (False Indigo) foliage.

🌸 Tip 3:

🌸 When using wet floral foam, use the “float soak” method and place the floral foam brick on top of the water.

🌸 Let the floral foam gradually absorb the water until it sinks and is fully saturated.

Plunging the floral foam in the water creates air pockets in the foam and will cause stems to dry out, shortening the life of your flowers.

🌸 Soak your wet floral foam in water mixed with floral preservative until it’s fully saturated (about 2 minutes).

I placed my wet foam in a shallow plastic container so I could add additional water for the foam to soak up. The foam will continue to soak up water so your flowers have a steady supply of moisture.

I added the hydrangeas, placing some along the sides to conceal the plastic container and foam. Hosta leaves from the garden, along with spikes of white Veronica (Speedwell) were added last.

This is the finished arrangement placed on my MacKenzie-Childs Flower Market Pedestal, ready for my table!

🌸 Tip 4:

Regular readers have heard me sing the praises of Crowning Glory, as I have had flower arrangements that last easily two weeks when using it!

🌸 If you’re not familiar with  Crowning Glory, it’s an antitranspirant spray that seals in moisture and dries clear. It’s safe to use on all flower types and is especially beneficial for flowers that are prone to wilting due to moisture loss, like hydrangeas.

🌸 I usually cover my table with a towel to catch any drips before generously spraying my arrangement with Crowning Glory. Crowning Glory will dry within 30 minutes to an hour, depending the temperature and humidity.

 Note: Wait to spray roses with Crowning Glory after they are open as it will prohibit them from opening further.

Table Details:

Plates / Thistle & Bee, MacKenzie-Childs, couple of years ago

Flower Market Enamel Pedestal Platter / MacKenzie-Childs, couple of years ago

Honeycomb Goblets / Williams Sonoma

Bee Magnets 

Flatware / Wallace Napoleon Bee

Tablecloth / Maison d’ Hermine 

Napkins / Maison d’ Hermine

Black and White Checked Placemats and Bee Napkins / Crown Linen Designs

MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check Napkin Rings

Celebrating Summer—Even in a Challenging Season

One of the things I’ve learned through the years is that every gardening season tells a different story. Some summers overflow with blooms, while others require a little more patience and creativity.

This year has certainly challenged many of us here in North Carolina. The drought has left gardens stressed, lake levels lower than normal, and many of us hoping each weather forecast finally includes a soaking rain.

Thankfully, beautiful flowers and the memories they create have a way of carrying us through seasons like this. Revisiting favorite arrangements reminds me that every bloom is worth celebrating, whether it comes fresh from the garden, from the local market, or from the pages of the blog archives.

If you’re a regular reader, thank you for coming back to enjoy this favorite with me again. And if you’re new here, I hope this centerpiece inspires you to gather a few blooms, set a pretty table, and enjoy the simple pleasures of summer.

Here’s hoping Mother Nature sends us all some gentle, soaking rains soon so our gardens—and our lakes—can recover before the season comes to a close.

Wishing you a wonderful week and happy arranging!

Visit my Monday Morning Blooms friends below for more beautiful floral inspiration:

Pam at Everyday Living

Lidy at FrenchGardenHouse

Sarah at Hyacinths for the Soul

🌸 🐝 💐

Thank you for your visit, sharing with:

Tablescape Thursday