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Deadheading
Garden Tips Newsletter - June 11, 2001

A great way to promote a continuous blooming garden is to deadhead. Deadheading is the practice of removing faded flowers. By removing spent flowers you keep the plant from setting seed and thus promote flowering. Deadheading also helps reduce disease problems. Not all plants need to be deadheaded. Annuals such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, alyssum, ageratum, vinca, salvia, and others have flowers that fall off cleanly and don't need deadheading. Others, such as daisy, black-eyed susan, daylily, marigolds, geraniums, zinnias, calendula, and dahlias respond well to deadheading. If you want your garden to reseed itself you will need to let some flowers go to seed.

These archived newsletters were written by Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly. Kelly is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.