In the springtime and early summer, Mother Nature fills your garden with beautiful blooms. As the summers winds down in late July or August, you may start to see fewer of these flowers than before but that doesn’t mean they can’t be seen for many weeks yet!
In this article, we’ll discuss how to extend the blooming season of your annuals by deadheading them. We also share some tips on selecting which types of plants will give you a bigger impact with their flowers for limited time periods. Read on and find out more!
What Is Deadheading?
Deadheading is the process of removing spent or nearly spent blooms to encourage new blossoms. Deadheading works because when you remove a bloom before it goes to seed, the plant wants more and will try its best at producing another one in hope for reproduction. The purpose of flowers are usually just about reproducing themselves so interrupting that cycle can make them produce even more than usual till they have their chance with pollen again (the only way for fertilization). Deadhead by cutting off dead flower heads as soon as possible!
Doing this allows plants time without interruption from pollination while also encouraging future growths on your favorite potted succulent collection. The process of deadheading can be a tricky one. It requires careful attention to what type of plant you are cutting from, and which tools will work best for the job at hand.
Some plants have tender stems that need only your fingertips to pinch off spent flowers while others require more aggressive pruning with hand-held clippers or garden shears below where the head meets its stem or leaves in order not disrupt any other parts of it too much. Read on for some tricks about how to make this difficult gardening chore as easy as possible!
The 15 Best Annuals to Deadhead for MORE Blooms
1.Coreopsis
There are many wildflowers out there in the east and central United States, but calliopsis is one of the most loved. It can grow to be two or three feet high with a showy yellow flower that blooms from June through September! These plants do well in poor soil as they’re drought tolerant.
They enjoy full sun too, which makes them easy to take care of for you garden-loving people who want something new year after year!
2. Mexican Sunflower
Mexican Sunflowers grow naturally in Central America and Mexico. These vibrant plants can grow up to six feet tall, with bright orange blooms that are about three inches across. Plants bloom from July through September and attract butterflies as well as hummingbirds thanks to their attractiveness towards those creatures’ tastes for nectar-filled flowers like these!
Mexican Sunflower plant requires full sun exposure due to its preference of dry soil; it will even flourish if the ground is poor quality since this type thrives off better drainage than others might need or prefer.
3. Heliotrope
The Heliotrope is a beautiful flower that has many colors such as white, lavender and purple. You should plant this in soil with high phosphorous levels so it will receive enough nutrients to grow because they are heavy feeders when fertilized consistently.
4. Cosmos
Cosmos is an easy-to grow, sun loving plant that can reach up to two feet in height. These summer blooming flowers are covered with colors ranging from white and pink to reds.
When grown as a border around your garden or on the edge of naturalized meadows they make for excellent backdrops during any season because their bright color contrasts well against drab green plants like grasses, clovers, violet leaves or lavender petals!
5. Klondike Cosmos
Klondike Cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) is a striking plant that can grow up to six feet in height and produce semi-double or double blooms of bright shades of yellow, red, and orange throughout the summer. Klondike will thrive when they receive at least half days’ worth of direct sunlight each day but do well with partial sun as well.
6. Gaillardia
Growing in a natural setting, the blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) produces beautiful red and yellow daisy-like flowers. It grows to be between one and three feet high with no need for watering or fertilizing if planted near other plants that will provide these things while also protecting it from heat during extreme summer conditions.
7. Zinnia
Zinnias are a favorite flower to have in the garden. They come in many shapes, sizes and colors! Some of my favorites include Zinnia Elegans which can be as short as eight inches or up to twelve inches tall depending on what variety you buy. There is also Thumbelina, Dreamland, Short Stuff and Magellan among so many other delicious varieties that I cannot wait for them all too grows with me this year!
Zinnias are a great addition to the garden or in your containers. They thrive best when planted with moist, well-draining soil and full sun exposure.
8. Scarlet Sage
Scarlet sage is a well-known plant that thrives in nearly any environment and produces stunning flower spikes in shades of:
- Lavender
- Bi-color
- Salmon
- Purple
- White
- Pink
- Red
Salvia is a beautiful, hardy flower that can grow up to two feet tall. Salvia prefers well-draining soil and lots of sun exposure. These plants are heavy feeders so be sure to fertilize regularly!
9. Salvia Farinacea
Salvia is an herbaceous flowering plant that can grow to be two or three feet in height. There are 3 varieties of Salvia: the Victoria Series, Fairy Queen and Evolution. If you’re looking for a hardy, easy to care for perennial plant that will provide your garden with beauty and color all year long then Salvia is the perfect choice.
They come in three different colors: white, blue and bi-color flowers which bloom from May through October. The plants themselves are drought tolerant so they don’t need much water or maintenance other than occasional watering during dry spells (or heavier rainfall).
10. Snapdragon
Snapdragon is an old-fashioned favorite flower that can be planted in the spring or late autumn. There are many different cultivars with height ranging from six inches to three feet each, perfect for gardens of all shapes and sizes. Snapdragon flowers range from white, yellow, pink purple red and bi-color blooming May through October!
11. African Marigold
African Marigold (Tagetes erecta) is available in several cultivars, including:
- Moonsong Deep Orange
- Moonstruck
- Discovery
- Taishan
- Antigua
- Vanilla
These dependable garden flowers may grow to be between one and three feet high. The plant does well in moist, well-draining soil and full sun. Marigolds produce abundant blooms in shades of white, yellow, orange from May through October – a time when many other plants are beginning to wilt or go dormant for the winter months! But marigold season is also an important opportunity because these bright colors will keep your summer company while you tend the rest of your vegetable patch outside too!
These flowers have natural pest repelling properties that work wonders with vegetables but they’re attractive even just as decoration to butterflies passing by on their migration routes this fall.
12. Cleome
Cleome hassleriana is a pretty, graceful plant that produces delicate flowers and attractive seed pods. These plants can grow up to five feet tall with the potential of being an excellent back-border or low hedge in the summertime!
Hummingbirds love these sweet smelling blooms which will attract butterflies and other pollinators as well.
13. Geranium
The Geranium is a flowering plant that comes in many shapes. There are white, red and bi-color variations to choose from as well as countless colors available for the petals of your flowers. They love sun but can also do just fine with partial light or shade too!
The best thing about these plants? You don’t have to be careful where you put them–they’re very versatile when it comes to soil type and moisture level which means they’ll thrive no matter what conditions you provide them with.
14. Floribunda Geranium
Floribunda Geraniums are a class of popular and versatile plants that can be used in many different settings. These low-growing flowers have smaller blooms, but they grow quickly to fill up any space you put them next to with their beautiful colors! They also work well as ground cover for hotter climates or other places where it is difficult to maintain grass because the soil becomes too hot.
Floribundas cannot live through winters when dormant; so make sure they get plenty of water before winter arrives!
15. Lantana
Lantana is a hardy plant that produces abundant blooms in many colors. These flowers are attractive to butterflies and bees, which pollinate the plants by collecting pollen from one flower on their legs or body hairs then traveling to another Lantana flower they came across with similar compatible features for reproduction purposes.