Modern Hydrangea Arrangement

I hate hydrangeas. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word for my uneasy relationship with this traditional looking flower. They're useful enough, but they're just not my style. Hydrangeas also have this tendency to change colors based on the soil's acidity and can take on an unwanted muddy hue. My wife wanted green hydrangeas for the wedding, but we ended up with these insipid looking greenish white fluffballs instead. While I might not like hydrangeas, yesterday was my mother in law's birthday and she happens to like them. Here's how I gave a traditional flower a much needed update.

All I did was buy a single hydrangea bloom from the grocery store for $3.99, and clip some cast iron plant (Aspidistra 'Milky Way') leaves and a few stems of 'drunkard's dream' rhipsalis from my balcony. I overlapped the cast iron leaves to make a dramatic arched flare, and used the rhipsalis to form a lacy spray just to soften things up like one would use a spray of baby's breath flowers. It took about five minutes to make, and conveniently enough, it also matched the birthday cake.
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