My daughter and I had a funny discussion the other day regarding her beautiful Hydrangea Macrophylla. The Hydrangea was already in full bloom when she bought it mid-April to plant in her large concrete pot that sits on her porch A couple of days ago, she sent me a picture of this beauty and then called to ask me what was wrong with it. She explained that she had been watering it like I told her to and was taking very good care of it but all of a sudden something was wrong. It was dying. I examined the photo a little closer because it looked just as healthy as it did when she planted it. Chuckling, I explained that the flowers were dying off and the plant had nothing wrong with it, that is just the way it is. She was devasted, “They can’t die, it has to have flowers, that’s why I like it” she said.
As I drove to work this morning, I noticed a few of my hydrangeas had finely bloomed and it reminded me of my daughter’s tragedy. So, I decided to write a little about deadheading today. Deadheading is the removal of spent flower blossoms (the wilting ones). Deadheading and pruning are my favorite chores around my gardens. I find it very relaxing and enjoyable to remove the dead flowers or even dead stems and leaves from my plants. Once the chore is completed, my plants look revived and healthy again. Deadheading is quite simple with a sterile pair of snippers or a quick pinch with your fingernails. Deadheading can be achieved anytime during the plants growing season.
Deadheading is beneficial to plants for several reasons. It not only refreshes a plant’s appearance and controls seedings, deadheading also promotes growth and can even promote additional flower blooms depending on the species.
I enjoy keeping my plants tidy because I like my plants to look their best and as I said earlier, it is relaxing to me. It also gives me a chance to examine each plant and make sure they are healthy and pest free. Normally when deadheading, I only remove the spent blooms but occasionally I will remove an entire flower stock if several blooms are dying off or the plant is being weighed down with too many blooms. The only plants that I hate to deadhead are my knock-out roses. It seems like I must cut those thorn biting blooms once a week until I just want to dig them up. Don’t get me wrong, I love trimming my roses just not my knock-out roses.
I do my best to keep my plants in their designated areas, so I continually deadhead seedy blooms to catch the seeds before being dispersed by the wind or birds. This also keeps semi-invasive species like the fragrant tobacco plant from taking over your garden. Just throw the seedy heads in a labeled zip lock bag and place them in a dark cool place until next year, leave them to dry up and re-seed at the base of the plant, call your neighbor over to share some or just toss them.
When a plant flowers, most of its energy is used during bloom and seed production. When you remove the blooms, you are giving the plant more energy towards root and vegetative production. Some perennial trees and shrubs benefit substantially if you re move all the blooms and fruit during its first growing season. This will allow the plant to grow stronger so it can produce better the next year.
Several flowering plants will produce more blooms when they are deadheaded. Since deadheading diverts the plants energy back into the plant, additional blooms can then be produced. A quick web search will suggest where to deadhead your plant to promote reblooming. When you deadhead is up to you, but the sooner the better to give some energy back to the plant. Perhaps my daughter will get more voluptuous blooms from her hydrangea this season if she takes mommy’s advice and removes those spent blooms.
Charla Ingram is a plant, nature, and golfing enthusiast who, along with her husband Chris, owns and operates C&C Gardens in the small town of Bessie, Oklahoma.