Deadheading seems like such a morbid name! No, we are not asking the morgue for dead heads, nor are we burying decapitated animal heads…
Deadheading is a form of pruning. It is when you prune older branches from for example of a crape myrtle to promote new growth with flowers.
Deadheading is also removing spent, shriveled up flowers from plan5s to promote the plant to make new flowers and to make the plant grow nicer.
of deadheading marigolds
The other reason to eliminate flowers is to keep a plant for its leaves and to keep it from dying.
Some plants such as cilantro will produce flowers, seeds, and then it dies back. Dill is like this as well as is a bunching onion. It is part of the lifecycle so if you keep removing the blooms, it will keep your plant alive.
So technically, you can say that deadheading is more like life support to keep a plant going through the season…you do the plant a favor and it rewards you with more growth, a better harvest and more flowers!
Inga’s Creations 