Deadheader—sounds like a bad rock band from the eighties, doesn’t it? But no, I am a deadheader of the garden variety.
These are my window boxes full of petunias, pink impatiens, geraniums, and creeping jenny. This spot gets partial shade and partial sun at different times of the day. The petunias love the sun and the impatiens seem to bloom even more as long as they get plenty of water. To ensure blooms all summer I deadhead about twice a week.
Deadheading is the removal of dead or spent flowers to encourage more blooms and improve the overall appearance of the plant. It in effect fools Mother Nature by preventing the flower from going to seed. Some blooms like these petunias can be merely pinched off. Others like geraniums should be snipped at the bottom of the stem.
This year, because Charlie, a high spirited springer spaniel puppy, is temporarily living with us, I decided to save us all some heartache and plant all my annuals in containers. We’re all happier that way.
The ivy and grasses survive year round in the pots and provide a good back drop for each spring’s new annuals. This pot also contains rosemary and a new little herb I planted for the first time. It’s called boxwood basil and is bushy and compact just like a true boxwood. Pinching its leaves also encourages new growth and of course the leaves have the same flavor and smell as regular basil. Hibiscus will usually drop their own faded blooms themselves, but you can speed the process and promote more bloom by removing them.
More pink and white impatiens and another shade of pink hibiscus. This also contains lavender that I have planted for the first time. That’s the the Ole Miss Colonel Rebel watching over the pot---he’ll soon be replaced by a new mascot.
My pink hydrangeas have bloomed their little hearts out!
I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday and Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie for My Favorite Things. Container gardening and pink flowers are two of my favorite things! Happy Saturday and thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful flowers and I love you flower boxes! I am glad you showed the creeping jenny I was thinking of adding that to one of my containers that needs some extra something and I think that will be it! I deadhead also and I think it makes them look better and of course hopefully bloom more!!
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are beautiful!! My husband's grandmother taught me about deadheading when we were first married (35 yrs later this month:)-- She had beautiful flowers and was in the Garden Club in her town in Missouri. I remember hearing from my MIL how busy Grandmother was getting ready for hosting the club- of course everything had to be perfect, inside and out.
ReplyDeleteI loved her dearly and our daughter has her middle name Amanda:) She was a dear Christian lady.
She also grew hybrid tomatoes from seed that we were told were the size of a small dinner plate. Quite a gardener!:)
I enjoyed your post and thanks for sharing your talent for growing these lovely flowers!
Linda C
I was in my garden this morning doing just that. I think it makes a big difference. Beautiful garden! ~ Sarah
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI am a deadheader too! In fact, I really enjoy it. I love all your beautiful containers of gorgeous flowers. And your pink hydrangeas, oh my, they are superb!
Cindy
Would you like to come to my house, stay a while, plant my window box and pots and deadhead for me? I'll even feed you and give you a room and bathroom of your own. Beautiful things.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm green! I can actually kill artificial plants. Really. These are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are gorgeous. I have never had much of a green thumb. Your backyard looked amazing!!
ReplyDeleteJane
Thanks for the reminder that I need to follow my mother's advice and get out and deadhead the garden.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Bonnie
Thanks for sharing your beautiful flowers. I knew about the deadheading, but don't have as many petunias this year. My impatiens are not blooming as much right now. I think they all need a dose of fertilizer.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend.
Wait a minute... Ole Miss is replacing its mascot? Sigh. He's been there since the school had a football team! I guess everyone needs to retire at some point. I just wish it was us and that we could retire and travel!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love your flowers.
XO,
Sheila :-)
Wonderful pics of your flowers & the dog! I bet he is a handful. He looks like he could leap up at any second. I know about deadheading, but this year, the chipmunks & squirrels have eaten so much that there is nothing left to deadhead!
ReplyDeleteBeckie
Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteCould you please come over and deadhead my flower boxes! haha. It is a chore! Great pictures of your flowers. Cute dog too!
Gorgeous plants and planter...oh, those hydrangeas are beautiful!
ReplyDeletelol! Love your garden! Hope Charlie is behaving himself ;)
ReplyDeleteHugs, Lisa
I have some boxwood basil too and I am surprised how fast it has grown. It is like a bush!! I like the regular basil for cooking but I need to experiment a bit with this one! My impatients do grand without deadheading....I don't know why but they surely do! Happy pink Sat. (you can see a pic of my imipatients on the side of my Spindle cottage blog....but my pink sat post is on my nannykim blog). God Bless!
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty pinks! My hydrangeas look pitiful but yours are so lovely!
ReplyDeleteHappy PINK SATURDAY!
Big TX Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents
Susan, your flowers look beautiful. I told my husband the other day that we are not going to have so many petunias next year. I feel like I could deadhead every day and still find more to take off of them. None of my hydrangeas are pink. Yours are such a pretty pink. Charlie is adorable, but I bet he can cause some mischief. Thanks so much for linking to Fav. Things Sat. laurie
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are beautiful! I plant a lot of similar plants and colors in the pots on my deck.
ReplyDelete