dead heading
Brian Garnett
because of PC problems at the time..
what are the rules..(if any)..when dead heading different flowers......for
example..geraniums..do I take off the flower or the whole stalk?
Roses...do I pull off the rose only or cut back to the next pair of leaves?
Petunias....do I just pull off the flower or..the whole stem?
and so on and so on.
would appreciate any help and advice you can offer me.
--
cheers! Brian
Virginia Pearce
and suggested treating it as a pruning exercise, ie you cut back to the
next leaf bud. That way you may also get repeat flowering. Same
applies to hardy geraniums: cut back to the next sensible pair of
leaves (often where the stem forked into two flower stems). I did this
last year and got a good second flush of flowers. Not sure about
petunias. Probably the same applies.
Ginny
Michele Morris
Brian Garnett wrote:
> > what are the rules..(if any)..when dead heading different flowers......for
> > example..geraniums..do I take off the flower or the whole stalk?
If you mean geraniums as in hardy geraniums, then wait until they're not
producing much flower and cut down to a few inches above the ground. They will
grow again and produce a second flush of flowers later in the summer. Only do
this to them once each year!
If you mean geraniums as in pelargoniums then I can't help.
>
> > Roses...do I pull off the rose only or cut back to the next pair of leaves?
Depends. If you want lots of small flowers then you can just snap off the dead
flower head. If you want fewer but bigger flowers, snap off the flower heads
until the whole cluster of buds has flowered and then cut back to the nearest
leaf joint. However, the traditional way was to cut back to a leaf joint about
six inches below the flower head.
>
> > Petunias....do I just pull off the flower or..the whole stem?
I just pull off the dead flower on mine and they do well.
> Regards ... Michele
Jill Bell
rnett.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>I asked this question a few days ago but never got to read any replies
>because of PC problems at the time..
>example..geraniums..do I take off the flower or the whole stalk?
Take off the whole stalk with the flower head on.
>Roses...do I pull off the rose only or cut back to the next pair of leaves?
Cut back to the next pair of leaves
>Petunias....do I just pull off the flower or..the whole stem?
Pinch off the flowerheads where just behind the flower.
>and so on and so on.
>would appreciate any help and advice you can offer me.
In all cases you're stopping the plant producing seed so you encourage
it to flower more. With the rose and the geranium the long flower stalk
remaining is unattractive and will die back in time so it makes sense to
remove it. With petunias there's only a bit of stalk attaching it to
the main stem - so, if the flowers are closely attached to the main
stem, just remove the flower. If you look at each plant you'll see
which is the simplest or more attractive option.
Jill
>
>--
>cheers! Brian
>
>
Jill Bell
<vp...@cam.ac.uk> writes
>On Real Gardens last Friday Monty Don demonstrated dead heading on roses
>and suggested treating it as a pruning exercise, ie you cut back to the
>next leaf bud. That way you may also get repeat flowering. Same
>applies to hardy geraniums: cut back to the next sensible pair of
>leaves (often where the stem forked into two flower stems).
I'd be at it forever!! I just hack hardy geraniums right back to the
ground - that way there's new young leaf growth at a time when the
plants were getting leggy and untidy, and a second flush of flowers.
Doesn't work with x magnificum though:-(
I was assuming that Brian was talking about the other geraniums - zonal
pelargoniums.
Jill
--
ji...@bellsbarn.demon.co.uk