About timing care to extend summer blooms
For many gardens here in the Niagara region, late July and early August is peak bloom time. It’s when many people say their garden looks the best.
This year has been especially lush. We’ve alternated very hot days with very wet days, so there’s been no lack of moisture in the soil. It’s even caused some flooding in the region, which is still recovering in places.
The cicadas have started buzzing, and August has a different kind of heat than July. July always feels like it’s rushing toward hotter and hotter days. By August, it feels like the ground itself has absorbed that heat. It’s not only the sun warming you anymore. The earth radiates it back as well. Everything feels warm.
These are the slow summer days we’ve been waiting for.
For me, deadheading happens toward the end of hedge trimming season. Once the big hurdle of trimming hedges is over, or nearly over, deadheading becomes a pleasant task. It’s a chance to visit the whole garden with very few tools, slow down a little, and tidy things up one flower at a time.
What is deadheading?
Deadheading is simply removing spent flowers before they begin fully setting seed.
The name is actually a little bit of a misnomer because you don’t necessarily remove only the flower head. Quite often you’ll remove the entire flowering stem back to the first leaf or the first branching point, depending on the plant.
The goal is to remove everything that’s no longer contributing to the plant while keeping everything that is still happening.
Why deadhead?
There are three main reasons I deadhead.
The first is to encourage continued blooming.
Once a flower begins putting energy into producing seed, the plant slowly begins transitioning into its next phase. By removing the spent flowers before they fully set seed, many plants respond by producing more flowers. It’s a way of extending the bloom period a little longer and gently delaying the next phase of the plant’s growth.
The second reason is to prevent unwanted self seeding.
Some plants readily spread by seed. Removing the flowers before they mature means fewer seedlings next year and often less weeding. This is also why, if I don’t have time to fully remove a weed, I’ll sometimes simply remove the flower head. The root can wait for another day. Preventing seeds from forming immediately limits future work.
The third reason is aesthetic.
Removing spent flowers makes the garden appear fresh for longer. But this is also where personal preference begins.
Some gardeners enjoy seeing only fresh flowers.
Others enjoy the seed heads, the changing textures, and the gradual transition toward autumn. Neither approach is right or wrong.
First walk through the garden
Before I cut anything, I usually walk through the entire garden without doing any work.
I have a look at what’s blooming, what pollinators are active, which flowers are fading, and generally warm up to the garden before I begin.
Only then do I grab my tools.
Usually that’s a pair of secateurs, a bucket, and a yard waste bag. If I’m collecting a lot of material, I might use a leaf chute to hold the bag open.
That’s really all you need. Something to cut with, and somewhere to put what you’ve removed.
How to deadhead
Let’s use Echinacea or daisies as an example.
I hold the spent flower in my non dominant hand and follow the stem downward with my secateurs until I reach either the first large leaf or, more commonly, the first branching point.
Very often another flower is already developing from that junction.
That’s where I make the cut.
If you just remove the flower head itself, you’re often left with an empty stem sticking up through the plant. By cutting the entire flowering stem back to where new growth begins, the stem disappears and it looks like it was never there.
Most plants bloom in stages.
The first flower usually opens first, followed by smaller side flowers. Butterfly bush is a good example. The centre flower finishes first while the side flowers are only beginning.
The key is to remove only what is truly finished and leave everything that is still blooming or still to come.
Recognizing senescence
This is probably the trickiest part of deadheading.
Sometimes it’s obvious.
Other times it isn’t immediately clear whether a flower is finished or simply hasn’t opened yet.
If I’m not sure, I usually just take a second look.
The flowers that are finished often have dried brown petals and feel finished.
The flowers that haven’t opened yet usually still have some vibrancy to them. Even if they’re not colourful yet, they don’t feel dead. They still feel like something is happening.
Over time you begin recognizing the difference.
One of the nice things about perennial gardening is that you begin learning the different phases each plant goes through.
Plants aren’t static.
They change throughout the growing season, and deadheading is simply one way of interacting with one particular phase of that cycle.
Some examples
Peonies are one of the earliest plants I deadhead.
Once the flowers finish, I usually prune back to the first large outward facing leaf. That preserves the vase shape of the plant while leaving all of that dark glossy foliage behind. Especially on mildew resistant varieties, that foliage becomes a beautiful green backdrop for everything now coming into bloom through midsummer.
Daisies behave a little differently. They bloom quickly and fade fairly quickly too. If I’m visiting the garden regularly, I’ll remove the first flowers as they finish and allow the side flowers to continue.
Eventually, once the flowering stems begin fading, I’ll often cut the entire plant back to the basal rosette. That leaves a lush green groundcover through the fall instead of a patch of fading stems.
If I’m maintaining a more relaxed cottage garden or simply don’t have the time, I might leave them much longer and do one cut instead of several.
Both approaches work.
It depends how formal you want your garden to look, how much time you have, and what kind of aesthetic you’re after.
Butterfly bush is another good example. Some varieties readily self seed. Deadheading them can dramatically reduce unwanted seedlings the following year. Again, remove only the flowers that have finished and leave the younger flowers that are still opening along the same stem.
Echinacea often becomes a choice. You can deadhead for a tidier look and a few more flowers. Or you can leave the seed heads for winter.
Crocosmia and roses simply benefit from regular tidying through the season as flowers finish.
Every plant asks for something slightly different.
When to not deadhead
Sometimes the best decision is not to deadhead at all.
You might leave Echinacea seed heads standing through winter for the birds.
You might leave the seed heads because you enjoy their architectural quality once the snow arrives.
Or you might actively want a plant to spread.
Larkspur is one I intentionally allow to self seed. Once the seed pods dry and begin opening, I’ll often shake the seeds into areas where I’d like more larkspur next year.
The same idea applies to plants like lamb’s ear if you’re hoping they naturalize through the garden.
Again, there isn’t one correct answer.
It depends where you want your garden to go.
Containers and edible gardens
Container gardens are often small enough that deadheading simply becomes something you do as you walk by.
A small bucket nearby is often enough. As flowers finish, pinch them off and keep enjoying the display.
Edible gardens introduce another variation.
Sometimes you’re harvesting flowers rather than deadheading them.
Zucchini flowers and nasturtiums are both edible.
With herbs like chives and basil, removing the flowers encourages the plants to continue producing the foliage you’re actually growing them for. By delaying flowering, you often extend your harvest season.
A little bit of timing goes a long way.
A conversation with your garden
Even though deadheading is an umbrella term for removing spent flowers, there’s an incredible amount of flexibility within it.
Some plants benefit from being deadheaded as soon as possible because they readily self seed.
Others are sterile.
Some mainly spread through their roots, making deadheading almost entirely an aesthetic decision.
Your available time matters.
The look you’re after matters.
Wildlife matters.
The plants themselves matter.
As long as you understand why you’re deadheading, your own preferences can come into play.
If you enjoy a relaxed cottage garden, you may leave seed heads standing.
If you want a very tidy formal garden, you may remove spent flowers every day.
If you’d like birds visiting in January, you may make completely different decisions than someone who prefers a very clean autumn garden.
Deadheading isn’t really one practice.
It’s an ongoing conversation with your garden.
A way of encouraging growth where you want it, allowing the garden to move naturally through its seasons, and tidying things up when you have the time.