From the ground up: Deadheading your plants encourages re-blooming

Q: I am confused about deadheading. How do I deadhead plants? What plants should - and should not - be deadheaded?

A: There still is a lot of growing time left in this season, which means there still is plenty of time to deadhead plants. Deadheading is the process of taking spent blooms off plants. It's not the same as pruning, which is cutting back woody trees and shrubs.

Deadheading is helpful to plants. It refreshes the appearance of the plants by forcing them to re-bloom and it lets the plant focus on root and vegetative growth. Deadheading also helps the gardener, by prolonging bloom and keeping plants like columbine from self-seeding and spreading all over your garden. Of course, if you want them to self-seed, don't deadhead.

How you deadhead depends on the type of plant. For plants with many small flowers, like coreopsis, it's easier to cut off the entire stalk (avoiding stalks with buds) than just the spent bloom. For larger plants, like phlox, coneflowers, Astilbe, Salvia, petunias, marigolds and zinnias, cut off the individual flower. You can pinch faded flowers on annuals like petunias, geraniums, marigolds, zinnias and snapdragons. Long-stemmed plants with flowers all along a stalk, like delphiniums, larkspur, foxgloves, and Oriental lilies are cut back as close as possible to the spot where the stalk meets the leaves. Roses can also be deadheaded. Remove the spent bloom and stem just above the first leaf below the flower.

When you deadhead, be sure to get the seed pod in addition to the petals, so those seeds won't develop. Cutting off just above the next set of leaves avoids having ugly stems sticking out.

Some plants don't benefit from deadheading. These include peonies, euphorbia and other plants with a short growing season. Some newer varieties of plants have been developed to be 'self-cleaning” and also don't need deadheading. It won't harm the plant, though, so feel free.

Deadhead when you have spent blooms and you want your garden to look better. Find a schedule that works for you, so you don't have to deadhead your entire garden at once. Daylilies, for example, bloom only for a day, so you may find yourself deadheading a lot.

Some gardeners say that the time they spend deadheading helps them keep track of their plants. Others say they relax, meditate or plan while deadheading. You may find it helpful to deadhead in the morning with a cup of coffee. The coffee may not help the plant, but the gardener will enjoy it.

For questions on deadheading or other gardening issues, call the Linn County Master Gardener Hortline at (319) 337-0647.

' Jean Murray is a Linn County Master Gardener.