Flowers for the South

I was pretty stoked to make these for a company's annual dinner held in a state down south. I really did slave my butt off all night. My biggest fears when working with hydrangeas is a wilting one. I think they are complicated bunch because sometimes they are fine without air-conditioning, just heaps of cold water suffice but sometimes even sticking em back into the fridge doesn't work. I learned how to revive them on my own...slowly but surely through many trials and experimenting. I find it works best when you snip the stems short..say about 3 to 4 inches diagonally so it has a larger surface to absorb the water but I also snip the stem right in the middle, creating a slit at the end of the stem. I then add some flower food into cold water and stick the whole thing into the fridge. I kept checking on it the whole time I was up making flowers but it just looked dead in there. I decided to just let it sit inside and see the results the next morning. The next morning VOILA! It ressurected!! So I learned it can take up to 12 hours for it to slowly revive.