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Deadheading Part II From www.GrowingWisdom.com

Learning About Deadheading Perennials and Other Flowering Plants
Sometimes we have so much to show you that we need a second video to cover all the information. Deadheading is a topic like that, because of the great variety in the way plants bud and grow.

Plants flower to produce seeds and more plants. When you deadhead a plant — that is, when you remove the spent flowers and stalks on a plant — you encourage it to put its energy elsewhere.

The energy can then go into strengthening the plant and its roots and leaves. In some cases, removing the spent flowers can also cause the plant to bloom for a second, third, and even fourth time in one season. Sometimes the blooms can continue straight through from the first bloom until frost, as is the case with some coreopsis.

You can’t really kill a plant by deadheading unless you remove the entire plant, so don’t worry about doing it “wrong”. There are, however, a few easy rules you can follow to maximize the health and shapeliness of the plant.

As a rule of thumb, cut the plant back to where the flower meets the plant. In some cases — for example, with daylilies — this includes the stalk that the flower sits upon. When you’re working with roses, cut back the flower and stem until you find a set of five leaflets. If you can’t find five leaflets, look for a small node along the branch. This is where a new bud will form. Cut just above that node at an angle.

When you’re working with a butterfly bush, cut the flowers off as they die back and cut them to where you see new growth.

The other benefit of deadheading plants is that it prevents the plants from going to seed. The seeds can often germinate and sprout plants in areas where you don’t want them.

Duration : 0:2:40

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