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Are You Deadheading Your Annuals Properly?? - Our Definitive Guide!

  • Jul 3
  • 4 min read

Want to get the most out of your Summer annuals? In this video, Amelia will walk you through the essentials of deadheading some of the most popular plants in the garden. Don't let them go to seed--trick your plants and unlock a full Summer of blooms!


Key Points:

  • If you don't deadhead your annuals in time, your flower show is OVER!

  • Once your annuals go to seed, they stop producing flowers

  • Prune spent flowers and seedheads as soon as you see them

  • Don't treat plant care like a chore! Use it as meditation--sip and snip!

  • Zinnia, Dahlia, Lantana, Pentas, Petunias, Geraniums, Marigolds, African Daisy, Argyranthemum, Verbena and Salvia are annual classics that benefit from deadheading

  • Find the cutting point by tracing the flower stem to the next "node"

  • The "node" is where new growth is emerging from the stalk or stem

  • Don't want to deadhead? Plant self-cleaning annuals like Cuphea, Lobularia, Scaevola, Portulaca, and Vinca


Woman in a sun hat tends purple and red flowers in a bright greenhouse, holding a mug that says LIFE.
Amelia carefully pruning Salvia.

Your annuals are going to stop blooming in exactly one week unless you do this right now.

Woman in a pink hat waters bright flowers in a sunny garden, holding a mug reading LIVE Life with ZEST.
Zinnias are another annual that benefit from deadheading.

The heatwave is coming, your plants are about to panic, and if you don’t deadhead them properly, the flower show is completely over!

Hands inspect orange and yellow lantana flowers in a garden center, with green leaves and blurred blooms in the background
Amelia shows off the seed pods on a spent Lantana flower.

When it gets hot, your annuals go into survival mode. Their only goal is to make seeds. Once a fading flower forms a seed pod, the plant thinks its job is done, and it stops making new blooms.

Hands prune colorful lantana flowers with red garden shears in a sunny garden, green leaves and orange, pink, and purple blooms.
Trim off seed heads at the nearest node for more blooms!

But when we remove those dead flowers, we trick the plant into pushing out fresh color all summer long.

Smiling woman in a hat holds a mug in a flower nursery, surrounded by colorful blooms and hanging plants.
Garden maintenance is great meditation!

Now, before we get into exactly where to cut every specific plant in your garden, let’s get one thing straight: do not treat this like a chore. This is your 5-minute garden meditation. 

Smiling woman in a colorful flower garden holds a glass of red wine beside hanging baskets and stone sculptures.

Pour yourself a glass of wine in the evening, or grab your morning coffee, and take a quick stroll through the yard.

Woman in sunhat prunes colorful flowers at a garden shop, holding a mug, with a Checkout sign in the background.

A few minutes of sipping and snipping is the difference between a sad, green bush and a magazine-worthy yard! Let's grab a glass and run through the heavy hitters.


Hands trim yellow flowers with scissors in a sunny garden, surrounded by green leaves and blurred pink and orange blooms.
Zinnia
Hands snip colorful zinnias in a sunny garden, with pink, yellow, and red blooms against a blurred bright background.
Dahlia

Zinnias & Dahlias: These have long stems. Don't leave a headless, ugly stick poking out of your plant. Follow that bare stem down to the first set of healthy leaves, or the nearest new bud, and snip right above it. Snip.


Person in a gray shirt gently touches red and white flowers at a sunny garden center.
Pinch that Geranium stem right at the node.

Geraniums: Put the snips away for this one. Follow the long flower stalk all the way down to where it meets the main stem, push your thumb against it, and snap it backward. It pops right off. Snap.

Hands picking colorful petunias in a sunny flower garden, with yellow, pink, and red blooms against a blurred floral background.
With Petunias, make sure you remove the seed pod and not just the petals!

Petunias: The biggest mistake people make here is just pulling the dead, papery petals. The seed pod is still attached right at the base! You have to pinch the sticky little green base right below the flower. Pinch.

Hands trim a marigold plant with shears in a sunny garden center; label reads Strawberry Blonde French Marigold.
Marigold (Tagetes)

Marigolds: These guys go to seed fast. Right below the dead flower is a swollen green bump. That’s the seed pod. Snip the stem right below that bump, just above the next set of leaves. Snip.

Hand reaches toward purple salvia flowers in a sunny garden, with colorful blooms blurred in the background.
Once you spot browning flowers on Salvia, it's time to trim!
Person prunes a purple salvia in a colorful garden, holding a tag labeled Mystic Sp... on a gray Powell Gardens shirt.
Be sure to prune just above the node!

Salvia: When the bottom flowers on the spike turn brown and start falling off, it’s time. Follow the spike down into the foliage until you see two tiny new side shoots forming on the stem. Snip the main stalk right above them. Snip.

Hands prune pink and green flowers in a sunny garden, with blurred orange blooms in the background.
Pentas
Hands trim a green flowering plant with scissors in a colorful garden, bright purple and white blooms in sunlight
Verbena
Hands prune colorful flowers with scissors in a sunny garden, surrounded by orange, yellow, and lavender blooms.
Lantana

Verbena, Lantana & Pentas: These bloom in clusters. Once the whole cluster looks tired and faded, follow its little stem down to the next set of leaves and give it a haircut. Snip.

Hands trim yellow and purple daisies with scissors in a sunny garden, with blurred blooms in the background.
Argyranthemum (Margeurite Daisy)
Hands trim potted flowers with red pruning shears in a sunny garden center, with colorful blooms and plant tags behind.
Osteospermum (African Daisy)

Argyranthemum & Osteospermum: Finally, we have Argyranthemum (Margeurite Daisy) and Osteospermum (African Daisy). To keep them blooming all Summer, it's crucial that you trace the stem of the flower down to the next set of leaves and snip!

Hand touching red geraniums in a bright flower garden with blurred yellow, purple, and pink blooms.
Be sure to analyze your stems!

Okay, if you have a plant I didn't mention, or you are feeling completely overwhelmed by trying to memorize all of this, take a breath. I'm going to give you the golden rule of deadheading: Analyze the stem! 

Hands trim purple salvia plants in white pots at a sunny garden nursery.
Finding the right spot to make your cut is crucial!

Plants push new growth from the nodes—the little joints where leaves meet the stem. If you look closely at almost any annual, you will see a tiny new bud or branch forming right in the crotch of those leaves. 

Hand gently holds a pink-flowering plant in a sunlit garden nursery, with blurred green and colorful flowers behind.
See that new growth? You want to trim the center stalk just above them.

Your goal is simply to trace the dead flower's stem down to the very next active bud or healthy set of leaves, and cut right above it. You are just taking away the dead end to let the new traffic flow. That’s it!

Smiling woman in pink hat stands amid colorful potted flowers at a sunny outdoor nursery, with cars and signs in back.
Amelia with an assortment of self-cleaning annuals

Now, what if you want a beautiful garden but you absolutely refuse to do any dead-heading? You're in luck. Next time you come to Bountiful Gardens or your local garden center, look for "self-cleaning" annuals.

Close-up of orange tubular flowers and green foliage in a lush garden, with white blossoms and colorful blooms blurred in back.
Cuphea
Purple and yellow flowers blooming in a plant nursery, with rows of potted plants blurred in the background.
Lobularia
Sunlit garden bed of purple and yellow flowers amid green foliage, creating a bright, cheerful spring scene.
Scaevola (Fanflower)
Hanging basket of red, yellow, and pink flowers in a sunny garden, with blurred greenery and other blooms behind.
Portulaca
Bright pink, red and purple flowers fill a sunlit garden center, with blurred rows of blooms in the background.
Vinca

Plants like Cuphea, Lobularia (Sweet Alyssum), Scaevola (Fan Flower), Portulaca, and Vinca automatically drop their spent blooms and keep pushing out new ones without any help from you. They are the ultimate plant-and-forget superstars.

Woman in a flower-filled greenhouse smiles among hanging baskets and colorful blooms, holding a mug and pruning plants.
A job well done!

Beat the heat, trick your plants, and unlock thousands of blooms this summer. Grab your drink, grab your snips, and go spend five minutes in your garden.


 
 
 

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