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Deadheading Annuals

14 years ago

I just planted about 25 annuals to fill in where some iris were removed. I intend to plant perennials there eventually.

I forget - do annuals have to be deadheaded? Ones like felicia, bacopa, salvia, etc. Also, I bought 2 hanging baskets with petunias and other small annuals. Do they also have to be deadheaded? I know calibrachoa is self-cleaning, but I wasn't sure about some of the other annuals.

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Comments (7)

zen_man
14 years ago
Wave petunias don't seem to need deadheading. However, as a group, annuals do benefit from deadheading, since most of them depend on creating seeds for their existence, and setting seeds tends to end their flowering cycle.

ZM
Kat SE Wisconsin z5
14 years ago
I agree with ZM. The waves could benefit from some trimming once in awhile though. They will branch out more so they aren't too leggy. This is my 1st year trying bacopa. But I plan on treating them like the waves...not deadheading, maybe a trim. I'll see how it goes. Another annual I don't deadhead and does just great is Melampodium (medallion flower). I tried it for the 1st time last summer and just love it. The other annuals I do deadhead.
Good luck with yours!

Kat
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you deadhead annuals and perennials... you do NOT deadhead SHRUBS .... by grouping plants under common names.. such as annual.. shrub.. conifer.. tree .... we can come to certain conclusions about how things are done ... we do not prune conifers.. the way we would prune shrubs ... same with deadheading... and various other things... so once you start putting these things into the proper groups.. you start becoming able to make certain presumptions ... re-blooming of SHRUBS... is different that annuals ... the second flush is usually minor.. not all that great a show as compared to the spring bounty .... and highly dependent on the summer [drought, storms, etc] and most importantly.. maturity ... young plants.. under say 5 years old.. might just skip fall .... or only put out a couple flowers that you might never notice.. but for walking out there at the right moment and looking for them ... bottom line.. you have a million other things to do in the garden.. rather than dead head a shrub .. carpe diem.. lol .. all that said.. removing seed pods on something like lilac or azalea or rhodies.. might improve the look of the plant.. but is NOT a requisite.. and will NOT cause rebloom ... have a great day ken
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I agree Janice, great definitions and they are important tasks AND timely right about now. I have been doing a lot of pinching lately, both perennials and annuals. It promotes more side branching and blooming, so that I get more blooms (although they might be smaller overall). Most perennials I don't pinch, but the ones I do include Helianthus, Solidago, and Asters. Also I usually pinch a few of the Monarda stalks to get a staggering of the bloom. Most of the annuals I DO pinch, at least once. That includes Cosmos, Snapdragons, Petunias, Cleome, Tithonia, Verbena bonariensis, Basil, and others. Some of these plants get HUGE (perennial Helianthus and Tithonia, for example) and pinching helps keep the height down. Also I love Cleome but it will grow one really tall main stalk if you don't pinch it, and it looks nicer with many arching stems and flowers branching out from the main stalk (same with Cosmos IMO). I also deadhead the majority of perennials and annuals, for many reasons, the main reason being that it looks better. The exceptions would be any perennials or annuals that make seeds the birds eat, since I am a wildlife gardener and like to attract and feed the birds.
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Suzy, are you reading my mind? Yesterday I was deadheading Mons Tiller with clippers that make it easier to snip-snip than to snap-snap, wondering if it was OK to leave them on the ground. Until this year I was an unhygienic gardener. I just dropped everything, but this year with the discovery of thrips and that other fungus that turns flowers into balls of gray fuzz (ah-ha, botrytis) I started deadheading with a bag in hand (or tied to my waist a la cottonpickers. However, yesterday I had no bag and my huge debris bag was full and too far away to throw to, so to the ground they fell. I hope this single act did not ruin the "perfection" of my garden - ha ha. The subject of deadheading annuals/perennials is a dark cave for me and a big duh. I never know whether snapping is sufficient or how far down the stem to cut. Right now I have a 6-foot tall verbena bonariensis that needs to be brought into smaller bounds, hopefully to continue blooming. I know it self sows, but can it be trimmed and still continue blooming? And petunias...I gave them "haircuts" by lopping off the ends. Will they rebloom or has the heat done them in? Your question re the "tipping point" of going to seed or not is good. I await the answer. I don't know if my pink Marguerite went to seed and didn't rebloom because I waited too long to deadhead or because it doesn't rebloom. The yellow one bloomed again after her haircut. Sherry
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
annuals live and die in one season ...

they have only ONE GOAL IN LIFE ...

to reproduce .. via seed ...

when to many flowers go to seed .. they tend to die ... mission accomplished [regardless of whether the seed is viable]

deadheading removes the seeds.. and the plant continues to thrive.. trying to accomplish its goal ...

ergo .. ANNUALS NEED TO BE DEADHEADED ....

very over-simplistic.. but i presume you wont forget the notion...

good luck

ken
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
All of the plants you've mentioned come in perennial varieties, so be sure to do a bit of research on which you have. Regardless, you won't have to deadhead Felicia or Bacopa. Heck, you'd go mad if you tried, lol! Perennial Salvia blooms longer if the spent stalks are removed, but I still get about 3 months out of mine when I don't. Annual salvia needs tending to, though.

Do a quickie search on the plants in your garden. You'll soon find information about the deadheading of each one. It'll be worth your while, because not all annuals need that kind of grooming.
blueheron
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you for your halp. These are definitely annuals, not perennial varieties.

I also have dahlias and angelonia. I probably should deadhead them, too.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
14 years ago
As with most of the other annuals you mentioned, angelonia does not have to be deadheaded. Dahlia (a perennial) DOES!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
in my zone 5.. dahlia is a tender perennial.. meaning if i dont dig them up and put them in the basement.. they die... i presume they are the same in z6 .... but you can do the research ...

when a plant has so many flowers that individual spent flowers can not be taken off.. trace down the plant lower to the ground.. and look for tiny leaves where branches go off from the main trunk.. and if you see tiny leaves there.. you can take the whole branch.. and a new branch will start ...

to become a GREEN THUMB.. you have to turn off the computer.. and go pinch your plants ... do a little research.. but you really have to JUST GO DO IT ...

if you have a couple of a plant.. do different things.. to different plants.. and see which works best for you ...

that is how a GARDENER does it.. trial and error.. and killing a bunch of things.. lol ...

have no fear... JUST DO IT ...

the whole point of gardening.. is to be in the garden.. and mess around with things... it is not meant to be scary.. or stressful.... or anything to worry about...

some peeps actually say... that you arent a gardener.. until you have killed every plant 3 times ....

ken

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