I'm probably somewhere in the middle, leaning toward lazy, lol. My annuals I do better with because I do cut a lot anyway for bouquets. Sometimes I just walk out to the garden to look, and then end up pinching here, pinching there, and then before you know it, I'm out there for a half hour deadheading.

Just went out yesterday and cut back most of my columbines. I usually let them reseed, but they really are getting out of control, so I cut back all of the white ones (which I don't really even like but hey, it's easy spring color) and for now I left the pinks and purples. I will go back out and thin those out too, leaving just a few of each.

Sometimes it's good not to deadhead. I've got some gorgeous larkspur growing around the garden this year, the best I've had in years. There's one blooming now that is as tall as me. We can look each other in the eye lol. Usually they're about 2-3 feet tall.

And yes, give me deadheading over watering any day!

:)

Dee

Hi Dee, I think we all do that. We go past a plant that needs a little deadheading and while we're doing that, we see another one and before you know it, you've been out there deadheading a half hour. I especially end up deadheading pansies and dianthus because I get great rebloom if I keep it from setting seed.

As for the columbine, just like hellebores, if they don't get any new blood after awhile they all start to look similar and bland. I started out with some fancy songbird columbine and I can't find one. This year I bought a large packet of fresh columbine seed from Johnny's seed and I did WS them but haven't worked out as well as I hoped. I still have a lot and if I don't get around to starting seedlings, then I might just broadcast them where I want them in the fall and hope they germinate in the spring. Meanwhile I am pulling any of the columbine that I don't like and only saving seed from those I do.

DH does most ofthedeadheading here! He is more bothered by messy-looking stuff than me :-) He was up on a ladder yesrerday deadheading the lilac shrub/tree outside the kitchen window! I’m mainly worried about deadheading things that seed too vigorously but sometimes deliberately leave things to seed (e.g. trilliums and certain colours of columbine.) Brunnera I usually deadhead by yanking off the spent flowering stems when passing by! But I also leave some to seed and just weed out the non-silver seedlings. A few years ago in a wet, cold spring I lost a lot of silver brunneras but a lot of silver seedlings survived and that is what is growing out there now! The perennial geraniums in the front garden seed too much so they get deadheaded but also need to have seedlings dug out every year. Ditto re ornamental alliums. The perennial geraniums in the backyard are mostly the bigroot type that are easy to remove if needed. Hardy hibiscuses get the seed capsules removed to prevent them seeding around. other than a few veggies, we don’t grow annuals so no deadheading issue there. So deadheading here is a necessary chore but not an onerous one.

the bigger the garden got.. the less i deadheaded ... especially when i got to acreage ...

that is why i tried to plant a progression of flowering plants .. so there was always something of interest blooming ... without me having to force the issue ...

anything that reseeded heavily and irritated me.. got deleted from the collection .. i had better things to do than try to tame an aggressive seeder thru DHing ...

the exception was anything within focus distance.. of where i sat in the evening with an adult beverage or 2 ... and i just had to be doing something.. so i might relaxingly snip away at stuff .. trying to avoid snipping off a finger after too many adult beverages ...

lifes too short to be dictated to by your garden ....

ken

I try to get to them before seeds form but that's all I'm promising.

I'm really good about deadheading the annuals in pots around my front door. The rest of the flowers, not so much. It's just too hot this time of year (100 and up).

I lean more towards fastidious. Though it depends what it is, some hardy annuals and non-reblooming dianthus I leave be so they can reseed. Tender annuals such as marigolds, petunias, pansies that a planted for summer colour get deadheaded. I try and choose perennials for the wildlife so I do my best to leave them. Unless I know I can get a decent second bloom or they're really ugly lol.

Yes, guilty. The columbines (any columbine not blue), bearded iris and two thirds of the lunaria have been dead headed. Fox gloves that were washed out colors were dead headed but the vibrant pink ones are left to reseed. The lamb's ears were felled by a strong storm. I felt terribly guilty cutting them because the bees use them preferentially but they were laying on the grass so I filled a wheel barrow with those. Most peonies have been trimmed, one late group remains. I've begun trimming bearded iris foliage to control borers. Yeah, one compost bin has filled as the spring garden gives way to summer.

I'm still trying to pull out weeds before they reseed. [g]

I only deadhead what needs it to rebloom and if it's ugly once spent (like the petunias I bought at a FFA fundraiser). I normally avoid anything I HAVE to deadhead, as I like to leave the seeds for the birds--I love watching the finches and sparrows poke around for seeds. Bonus when the spent heads are attractive as they dry, e.g. alliums.

Lol, docmom, it's amazing the amount of self-restraint I need to practice to not deadhead public plantings sometimes! If no one is around I might do it, but usually I force myself to not touch anything!

:)

Dee

Ha. deadheading public gardens. ive heard the phrase from the wife a few times the years…. ”honey, this isnt your garden”

Oh gosh, that's funny -- you guys actually do that? LOL! Although, if I saw someone deadheading a public garden I'd just figure they were volunteers or employees taking care of business and wouldn't think anything of it. :0)

mxk, not if they were doing it at the gas station while they were pumping gas or coming out of the grocery store with bags on their arms, or waiting in line at the bank's outside ATM, or coming out of the library with books in their hands, lol. Then you'd know they (we!) were just crazy people!

:)

Dee

"mxk, not if they were doing it at the gas station while they were pumping gas or coming out of the grocery store with bags on their arms, or waiting in line at the bank's outside ATM, or coming out of the library with books in their hands, lol. Then you'd know they (we!) were just crazy people!"

Nah -- just folks who enjoy flowers :0)

mxk3 and Dee - the solution is to get a Tshirt and hat made up with a logo, as a disguise so people absolutely just think you are a volunteer. [g] And nothing wrong with having a 5 gallon bucket and garden gloves in your car either. lol

Well its not like im totaly deadheading a plnat just a few snas here and there

PM2, I should run my errands wearing a t-shirt that says "Staff" lol. That might help. If anyone asks me for help with anything I'll apologize and say that I just handle the garden!

:)

Dee

Since I've been using more mulch and doing less weeding, I've found I spend more time deadheading. But I'm selective. I do leave seeds for the birds with coreopsis and coneflowers. I have learned to deadhead that beardtongue penstemon seed heads have to be deadheaded. They are prolific!

Public deadheading (and weeding!) I've avoided doing (mostly), but my OCD has increased with age and the urge is overwhelming!

Deadheading - not so much. For me it’s more about trying to keep on top of culling, dividing, etc. I am fortunate that my garden grows well, really well, that usually at many points I feel like I need to constantly go in and hack things back. Even when I’m on top of dividing things; very often it rebounds like I never chopped it into a quarter of its original self earlier in the year!

LaLennoxa; I did that last year (a lot!). Even to some plants that it was recommended against and I had great successes! I have more plants than I know what to do with this year. One of my favorite relatively new plants I hacked accidentally while trying to move. I thought I had lost it not once, but twice. The second time voles had done a number on it. It rebounded beautifully to my happy surprise this year! Sambucus Lemony Lace.