Deadheading

The best thing about annuals is that they bloom all summer long. A vase of fresh cut flowers from your garden has an added benefit. Did you know that annuals will bloom more if the flowers - and especially the spent flowers - are picked regularly?

“Deadheading” your plants is simply removing the spent flowers so that they do not go to seed. Once an annual plant has produced seed, it has fulfilled its mission to reproduce and stops putting energy into making more flowers.

Exception: Some annuals are “self-cleaning” which means that the spent flowers drop on their own. Some examples are: portulaca, supertunias©, lantana, calibrachoa and new guinea impatiens. The rest of the annual plants in your garden should be deadheaded regularly!