104 PruninG Perennials
Some plants are just so willing to
please that they offer us rebloom as
well as pretty seedheads. In certain
cases you can have both at the same
time if you deadhead a few flowering
stems and leave others to ripen. In
most cases, though, you will need to
deadhead the entire plant, let it
rebloom, and allow this secondary
display to ripen for your ornamental
seedheads.
Some perennials have unattractive
deadheads that require frequent (daily
is best) deadheading to look decent.
Most modern daylilies as well as
Coreopsis lanceolata, Hibiscus moscheu-
tos, and Leucanthemum ×superbum, to
name a few, fall into this category.
Plants of this nature are not good
choices for the low-maintenance
gardener. Older daylilies with smaller
flowers, such as Hemerocallis ‘Mme.
Bellum’, are exceptions, as they drop
their old flowers cleanly.
Perennials such as gaura, linum,
and tradescantia (whose flowers
actually melt away) shed their petals
discreetly, but they usually do this by
the afternoon, thus leaving the
evening devoid of their beauty—a
letdown for the gardener who is away
all day and can enjoy the garden only
in the evenings after returning home.
Other self-sufficient “petal droppers,”
including Coreopsis verticillata, Iris
domestica, and Silene coronaria, hold
their flowers for longer than 1 day. It
should be noted that although these
plants neatly dispose of their dead
flowers, they still are producing
seedheads that produce seed, and so
they may require deadheading either
to prevent seeding or to help produce or prolong bloom. But at least they don’t
require daily attention like some of the others.
Astilbe, baptisia, Papaver orientale, and others do not flower longer or repeat
their bloom if deadheaded, so this extra work is not needed. It can also be
beneficial to not deadhead perennials that flower late in the season, such as
boltonia or Heterotheca villosa, as their entire structure, including seedheads, can
be left for winter interest.
Certain silver-leaved perennials, such as the artemisias, Santolina chamaecy-
parissus, and Stachys byzantina, have foliage that will deteriorate if the plants are
allowed to go to seed. Deadheading allows the plant’s energies to stay directed
toward foliage production. These plants often are not blessed with particularly
outstanding flowers anyway, and usually I remove the flower buds before they