There is no better reward in gardening then seeing you plants thrive. I am overjoyed when my plants begin to bloom, it gives me such a feeling of accomplishment and I marvel in the uniqueness of each plant. This same feeling however has caused me to be a little lax in trying to extend my container gardens bloom season. It causes me a great deal of anxiety to cut off any blooms even as they begin to wither. If I could get past my anxiety and realize that deadheading, removing the spent (dead) blooms, would produce more flowering growth, perhaps even another entire burst of blooms later in the season my containers would look healthier and vibrant much longer.
Deadheading is done for three reasons:
1) To keep gardens looking neat and healthy. Spent flowers do not look good while in contrast to other flowers on the same plant that are in their prime or just beginning to bloom. It is especially important in containers where there are often a variety of plants close together and blooms are constantly complimenting each other.
2) Plants continue to channel energy into the blooms, even the spent ones. By keeping them on the plant we are allowing the plant to waste its energy on these blooms.
3) Plants aim to produce seeds and use a great deal of their enegy to do so. They will put their energy into producing seeds and less energy into continue to produce blooms. By deadheading we trick the plant into thinking it has not finished its job of producing seeds and their energy will then be channeled into producing new blooms.
So the question now is when should we deadhead? We should deadhead when blooms are past their prime. An indications of this is when their color begins to fade and petals shrivel. Deadheading is pretty simple but may seem a little awkward at first. You can deadhead many of your plants using two fingers to pinch off the spent blooms. Alternatively a pair of gardening shears may be your preference.
Deadheading is essential to the longevity of your containers. Not all plants will produce a second set of blooms but at minimum your containers will look neat and healthy again. Check out the article Deadheading Flowers by Jessica Carson for more information. She does a terrific job explaining many plants that benefit from deadheading and ways to deadhead these different types of plants.
Happy Container Gardening!
Tennille
