phloxOnce the garden starts blooming, another garden chore eats up the gardener’s hours--deadheading.
Keep beds and borders tidy
The first reason to deadhead is to keep the borders and beds tidy and neat. Some early bloomers look scruffy after their bloom cycle is finished. A sever pruning job encourages regrowth and the plant finishes out the season as a well-shaped member of the border.
Protect hybrids
If you have high cost hybrid perennials, you’ll want to deadhead to protect the plant from seedlings that have crossed with just any old plant.
Encourage reblooming
Deadheading can also encourage a second or multiple bloom cycle, as with roses.
There are mixed blessings and curses if you deadhead, depending upon the amount of time and energy you have. If you are garden proud, no effort may be too much for you.
Down-side to deadheading
However, if you deadhead your flowers to maintain a tidy appearance in the garden, you may be foregoing the pleasure of watching birds feed on nature’s bounty. You may also curtail fall and winter interests in your garden.
Plants for winter interest
The dark seed heads of Echinacea, purple coneflowers, are beautiful against the white of winter. So are the plumes of grass seed heads and the red hips of some forms of roses -- not all varieties form hips.
If you deadhead coneflowers, you may get a second sparse showing before fall. You could opt to let these seed heads remain for winter interest, but the number of heads will be smaller than they would have been if left to set seed after the first bloom cycle.
The vertical flowers of Liatris, gay feathers, offer a beautiful frosted upright form in the winter garden. Liatris are a favorite source of food for the winter browsing titmouse or chickadee.
Another composite favorite in the garden is the daisy. These flowers also produce a small second flowering late in August and September, but the birds enjoy reaping the seeds if they are left to mature.
Reducing the vigor of plants
Allowing plants to produce and set seeds can reduce the vigor of some plants. Some will literally bloom themselves to death; some of the new varieties of Verbascum fit this category. On the other hand, if you deadhead you keep the plant from producing seedlings and taking over the flowerbed.
Plants that have a shorter but intense blooming cycle and give a second bloom are: Gypsophila paniculata, baby’s breath; Campanula lactiflora, milky bellflower; Salvia x superba ‘East Friesland’; and other sage hybrids. The second flowering may not be great but in the August heat-weary garden it can be a boost.
Some perennials open up their flowers over a long period of time. Deadheading will keep them producing over an even longer time frame. Plants that appreciate this approach are Platycodon grandiflorus, balloon flower; Lychnis coronaria, rose companion; and Helianthus, sunflower.
Sever deadheading to rejuvenate the plant for summer appearance sake works with Ajuga, bugleweed; Aruncus, goat’s beard; Astilbe, false spirea; Bergenia; Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower, Echinops, globe thistle; Geranium macrorrhizum, bigroot geranium; Helleborus, hellebore; Hosta, Paeonia, peony; Phlox divaricata, woodland phlox; Stachys, lamb’s ears.
