Tips you need to know before you start …
Deadheading List
Dividing List You can print both lists from Garden Gate Magazine's website (they are in PDF format) and keep it with your gardening journal or on your garden shelf for easy reference. I still use this list when I'm in the mood for 'cleaning up' the flower beds. (Our mission is to direct you to helpful resources, not reinvent the wheel. Hope this helps.)
The secret to long-lasting color... Deadheading Perennials
No... this has nothing to do with the ´Greatful Dead´ or their fans, aka ´Deadheads´. If you clean up your garden on a regular basis, you probably already deadhead at least to get rid of spent flowers. I try to prolong the bloom time or even get a second flowering out of many plants, but others will reseed all over the place if you don't keep their flowers picked off. So now you wonder, "When and how should I deadhead different plants?" Here are the ways and whys or what you need to know... with a list of plants to get you started! Keep your clippers clean and sharp!
Prolong the bloom You can get many perennials to bloom longer by removing the spend blossoms before they set seed. Some perennials will send up a second batch of flowers after being deadheaded, while others will send out side blossoms.
Prevent Seeding Deadheading also keeps perennials from spreading. This will shorten your weeding time, as well as take the mystery out of what may be growing in your garden next Spring. Many seedings don't match the cultivar you started with and may even crowd out the more desireable parents, such as the hybrid Black-Eyed-Susans and garden phlox! There are some seeds you may want to collect, but this is another lesson ... see collecting seeds from the home page.
Growing Healthier Plants If you prevent seeds from ripening... this will keep your plants stronger and healthier. Even a biennial, like hollyhock or angelica. Removing debris will also help prevent places for pests and diseases to hide.
Tips on deadheading different types of blooms:
Individual Flowers - Biennial hollyhocks bloom for weeks but can look ratty with all those spent seedpods turning brown along the stems. The same is true for balloon flowers. Since each individual flower has such a short stem, snip off each pod as it fades. This helps the plant bloom longer and the later flowers will be larger. After the flowers along the entire stem finish, cut the stem down to the ground or to the low mound of foliage.
Flower Clusters - Small flowers that bloom atop branched stems need a bit more snipping. Like the tall garden phlox, Shasta daisies, Salvia, and Bee Balm. Seeds can ripen early and drop without ever turning brown... so these types can be cut back to a side shoot or branch... instead of trying to snip off individual florets or by removing the entire stem. Lower side shoots may show the beginning of buds or blooms, so you can prolong their blooming time. Once all the flowers are finished along a stem, cut it down to the ground.
Blooms over the Entire Plant - Perennials that have many blooms over the entire plant, such as threadleaf coreopsis, dianthus, or baby's breath... need a shearing! A 'hair-cut' with scissors will quickly do the job and leave the mound of foliage ... I hate to cut them to the ground at this point. But if you do cut them to the ground, they will be back with a neat mound of foliage and maybe even a smattering of late flowers in just a few weeks.
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