Near the end of June, most all the planting has been done. Besides weeding, the primary garden activity for the coming month is deadheading.
Deadheading is a not very pretty name for a very pleasant activity. It means to remove spent flowers from plants before they have time to form seeds.
Deadheading is a form of pruning that stimulates the formation of new flower buds. Plants do their darndest to propagate themselves and when someone comes along and removes the flower before it goes to seed, the plant responds by making more flowers with the hope of having better luck next time.
Deadheading is a way of refreshing the plant and lengthening the bloom season. It also keeps aggressive self-sowers from sowing themselves all over the garden, saving you the effort of weeding them out when the seeds sprout.
Some annual flowers such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, alyssum, ageratum, lobelia, vinca and salvia do their own deadheading. The flowers fall cleanly from the plant after fading and do not need to be removed by hand. Others, such as marigolds, geraniums, zinnias, calendula, cosmos and dahlias need their faded flowers removed by hand. Perennials that require deadheading include roses, irises, lilies, azaleas, peonies and veronica.
Deadheading can be performed with a sharp scissors, a pruning shears, or in some cases with the fingers, depending on the plant.
Roses should be cut with a scissors or hand pruning tool just above the last leaf with five or seven leaflets. Spent daylilies are easily snapped off by hand. When there are no other unopened buds on the daylily stem, cut the stem at its base. Azaleas and rhododendrons need to be carefully deadheaded by removing the truss of spent flowers immediately after blooming, being careful not to disturb the new bud forming just under the flowers.
Deadheading roses should be discontinued in early August. The new growth stimulated by deadheading won’t be tough enough to survive the cold winter, so let the petals fall and allow rose hips to develop. Rose hips are the round “fruits” that develop when the pollinated flower is left on the bush. In many cases they turn a bright red or orange in fall. They are a good source of vitamin C and many people use them to make rose hip tea or jelly.
If you plan to save seeds from annuals like zinnias, marigolds, calendula and cosmos, stop deadheading around mid-August and let the seeds form. On cosmos, watch the seed heads carefully and remove them before the seeds get dry enough to fall to the soil or you’ll have a whole lot of cosmos growing in that area next year.
I usually take go around the yard and garden to deadhead every other day in June and July. I carry a sharp scissors and an old dishpan to catch the deadheaded flower tops. By the time I’ve finished the dishpan is brimming with a potpourri of beautiful petals which I then sprinkle onto the top of my compost pile to make it look like a prettily frosted birthday cake.
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