When to deadhead, and when not to?

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jmcdowell San Antonio, TX(Zone 9a) Mar 22, 2008

Hey guys,
I posted this question in another forum and so far have not gotten any replies. Maybe cuz it's a beginner question.
I planted some African Bush Daisies (Euryops) and I am wondering if the benefit from being dead headed.
How do you know if a plant needs it or if it is "self cleaning"?
I read somewhere that petunias need it too, but then I think I read the certian varieties don't need it (Waves I think)
So far I have planted petunias (about 80, several different varieties), knockout roses, a climbing rose called Morning Magic (new for 08), A shrub rose called Wild Spice, A couple different morning glories, Hyacinth Bean Vine, Moonflower, Lobelia, Autumn Sage, Stella de Oro Daylilies, and Euryops.
I'll be planting a whole lot more, but I really want to encourage the most blooms possible. Any advice you guys could give would be excellent.
-James

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Mar 22, 2008

I always deadhead my Euryops...I'm pretty sure it keeps them blooming longer. And even if it doesn't, the dead flowers tend to look sort of ugly, so deadheading them keeps the plant looking nice rather than ratty. Salvias typically benefit from deadheading as well.

For the petunias, I'd watch what happens with the first few faded flowers--if they drop off the plant on their own within a few days then you don't need to, but if it seems like they're hanging on then it might benefit you to do it.

I don't think hyacinth bean, moonflower, lobelia, or daylilies need to be deadheaded, but I could be wrong since I don't grow most of those. Roses I honestly don't know.

As far as how you know whether to deadhead something--annuals typically do benefit from it, if you don't deadhead them then they will go to seed and stop blooming. Since they know they only have a year to live, they have to set seed in order to survive so if you keep deadheading them before they make seed, they'll typically keep blooming. For perennials and shrubs, some things will only have one flush of blooms per year no matter what you do, but others will continue blooming or have a 2nd flush of blooms if you deadhead--sometimes the best way to figure this out is to deadhead and see what happens--if you don't get any more blooms then you know you wasted your time so don't bother next year. Unless you're hoping to collect seeds, it never hurts the plant to deadhead, so it's an easy experiment to do if you run across something that nobody can tell you whether you're supposed to deadhead or not.

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