Archive Tip of the Week
TIP OF THE WEEK
June 29, 2009
To Deadhead, or not to Deadhead?
Although I spend a lot of time in the garden, there are certain tasks I try to keep to a minimum. Like pruning. And fertilizing. And watering. I do all three, of course, but only when absolutely necessary.
The one task I try to avoid altogether is deadheading, which is a process whereby you remove the spent flowers of plants to encourage more blooms. Now don’t get me wrong – deadheading does work. And the science behind deadheading is sound. Flowering requires a great deal of energy, and seed production even more. So if you remove the faded flowers before they have a chance to set seed, more energy will be available to the plant to produce even more flowers.
But it’s such a tedious and time-consuming task that I rarely take the time to do it. However, I’ve known gardeners who deadhead routinely. I even know of one fanatic who deadheads her azaleas, which takes hours and hours (and probably doesn’t do any good).
Of course, there’s one exception to my rule – Coreopsis. I adore Coreopsis of all kinds because they’re such carefree plants that once established seem to thrive on neglect. So every few days I deadhead them. And they respond in a few days with a profusion of new blooms. Sometimes I use scissors to get the job done, but more often than not I simply pluck the old flowers with my thumb, using a motion similar to a coin toss.
One Coreopsis I’m particularly fond of is ‘Jethro Tull.’ It features fluted yellow petals atop stems that rise well above the foliage. It grows to about 12 to 15 inches tall and wide, and loves plenty of sun. I recently planted five one-gallon babies in a spot where I can observe them while sitting on a park bench.
And yes, I deadhead all of them regularly. And they appear to be grateful.
Jethro Tull
