DEADHEADING: WHEN YOU SHOULD, AND WHEN YOU SHOULDN'T
It seems like almost everything you read recommends deadheading your flowering plants to keep them blooming profusely all season long. It's generally good advice, but many plants don't need to be deadheaded.
Plants that don't need deadheading are commonly referred to as self-cleaning plants. Self-cleaning plants usually don't produce seeds, so their flowers are not necessary for reproduction. Some self-cleaning plants will automatically drop spent flowers, others just seem to fade or melt away to nothing, and some just produce so many flowers so frequently that older blooms are covered up, and you don't see them anymore. Self-cleaning plants can be annuals or perennials.
You can safely deadhead any flowering plant, but there are a few reasons why you might not want to deadhead some of them. Certain flowers transition to beautiful ornamental seed heads when they finish flowering. Some flowers end up drying naturally on the plant and can look beautiful all through fall and even through the winter.
You might also want to avoid deadheading if you want plants to self-seed in your garden so they'll come back next year. If you leave biennials to go to seed, you'll end up with some blooms every year, instead of waiting until the second year for blooms.
Why does deadheading produce more flowers?
Deadheading prompts plants to produce more flowers because each plant wants to set seed to ensure future generations of the plant. By removing spent flowers before they've gone to seed, the plant is forced to produce more blooms. If their flowers are left to go to seed, some plants will completely stop blooming and may even die off because they've completed their life cycle.
Deadheading does not always force a plant to produce more flowers though, some plants only flower once, and when the flower is gone, they're done for the season.
Plants That Don't Need to be Deadheaded
Self-cleaning plants can be a big bonus to have in your garden or planters because they are pretty low-maintenance. While deadheading is not necessary for the following plants, they may still require a little tidying every now and then, especially in planters. Flowers or petals that drop automatically may end up on the ground around your pots and planters. Regardless, every plant can benefit from a bit of light pruning and tidying every few weeks to keep them looking fresh and encourage bushier growth.
