Deadheading - cutting off wilted flowers

Are you familiar with the expression deadheading? It sounds a bit macabre, but it is the English expression for clearing away all the over-flowered plants in the garden. There are several advantages to doing it. Firstly, it looks more orderly and tidy in the flower beds. Over-flowered plants often turn brown and messy, and it is therefore an easy way to make it look more well-kept. The second BIG advantage is that you stimulate the flower to shoot new shoots and buds when you clear away dead flowers. If you leave the flower alone, they will dry and start to form seeds - an energy-consuming process that causes the flower to slow down the pace of shooting new buds. It is certainly a bit of a chore to go around the garden and pinch or cut off the over-flowered plants. At the same time, it is cozy and a way to constantly discover what is happening outside in your gardens and flower beds.

Deadheading benefits both perennial flowers and summer flowers. For example, roses do very well when deadheaded and are much more willing to rebloom. Cut off wilted flowers with sharp secateurs just above a pair of leaves - new shoots will then shoot there. Some early flowering perennials can be stimulated to have a second, more abundant bloom by deadheading. Examples of perennials that we always deadhead are border nepeta, sage, lavender and daisies - often with the reward of a second, slightly less abundant bloom.

Summer flowers are extremely productive with maximum blooms. They do very well with deadheading. The rose, as you can see in the picture below, is a variety that does very well with continuous deadheading.

Rose-red Apricot