Deadheading

Deadheading, the process of clipping spent blooms off of a plant to encourage flower development, is one of best ways to prolong color in your flower garden. How many new blooms form depends on the plant. Some perennials, such as Balloon Flower, Bellflower, Coreopsis, Delphinium, Foxglove, Monkshoods & Spiderwort, respond to deadheading by producing some new blooms. Other perennials, including Astilbe, Bugbane, Goatsbeard, Lamb's Ears, Poppy & Peony, won’t continue to bloom. Deadheading annuals encourages continuous blooming from spring until fall. Deadheading also keep flower gardens fresh by removing fading blooms and leaving only the most vibrant flowers.

A plant’s flower is what attracts bees and hummingbirds for pollination. Once a flower is pollinated it fades and begins to put its energy into from seeds. Deadheading flowers as they fade prevents seed production and encourages the plant to continue to produce flowers.

Plants should be pinched back to the next flower, bud or leaf as soon as the flowers begin to fade. Be sure to remove the entire flower as seedpods which are left behind will begin to produce seeds. Garden pruners or scissors are ideal for deadheading flowers but pinching off spent blooms with your fingers also works.

Different types of flowers require different deadheading techniques. For instance, plants which flower on a single stem, such as Delphinium and Daylily, should be deadheaded by cutting back the entire flowering stem to the plants base. Shasta Daisy and other flowers which produce single blooms on long stems, are deadheaded by clipping individual flowers. Coreopsis and other plants which bloom at foliage level should cut back halfway to the ground.

Deadhead plants which produce plume-like flowers, such as Russian Sage and Astilbe, to just below the bulk of the flowers.

Irises should be deadheaded by cutting the flowering stem back to the plants base after all of the flowers on a single stalk finish blooming.

Include deadheading on your list of things to do in the flower garden during the summer. It will keep your garden healthy and colorful all season long.

Related Articles: Perennials, Annuals, Flower Gardens, Dividing Perennials