The Clear Sign That It's Time To Stop Deadheading Your Flowers For The Season

Deadheading, the practice of removing dead or fading flowers from ornamental plants, is a well-loved trick to keep a garden full of stunning blooms. Pinching or clipping off spent flowers forces a plant to direct its energy towards growing new flowers instead of the old ones that are dying anyway. Deadheading also prevents the plant from spreading seeds and keeps the garden tidy. You can deadhead annual plants as long as you want, since they will ultimately die at the end of the season.

While this practice is generally beneficial to the plant, encouraging new growth, deadheading perennial flowers for too long prevents seed heads from forming. Seed heads are a necessary part of a sustainable winter habitat and even provide aesthetic appeal in a garden that's otherwise barren. They begin to form around early to late fall, but the exact timing can vary based on your garden's unique conditions. Luckily, your plants will let you know when it's time to stop. If you notice that new blooms are becoming smaller, deformed, or less vibrant, it's a sign that your plants are putting less and less energy into blooming. Instead, they are beginning to form seed heads, and it's time to stop deadheading for the season.

Seed heads are attractive, nutritious to wildlife, and beneficial to your plant's life cycle. Compared to a garden full of blooms, your garden in the winter can seem pretty desolate. However, seed heads add texture and visual interest. Some common flowers such as columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) and alliums (Allium sativum) are even sought after for their uniquely pretty seed heads.

Seed heads are also an essential part of your local ecosystem during the winter, providing a source of rich food for birds and a place for hibernating insects to rest. This not only helps wildlife but also encourages more birds to visit your yard. The seed heads of certain flowers are suited to different species. Ladybugs will find a home in your yard when you add angelica (Angelica archangelica), while lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) attracts goldfinches.

While they are beneficial to you and your garden's inhabitants, seed heads are beneficial to your plants as well. Your flowers put lots of energy into seed production to set themselves up to reseed successfully next spring, which is a natural part of a plant's lifecycle.