It’s early August, when the kitchen is constantly filled with fresh bouquets, the flower fields are buzzing with pollinators, and each flower harvest is punctuated with a few more blooms going to seed.
This is the cycle of flowers, after all: seed, grow, bloom, and set seeds again.
But what if you’re not ready for the annuals to go to seed? What if you want continuous blooms all the way into autumn?
You can have them, and it’s easier than you think.
With a simple task called deadheading, you can keep your flowers producing blooms all season long.
Deadheading, or snipping off the flowers that are going to seed, tells the plant to put its energy into producing more flowers instead of producing seeds.
Watch the quick video below to see how it’s done:
Simple tasks like these are my favorite garden meditations.
There’s something about cutting back in the midst of high-summer that clears my mind and deepens my breath.
At a time when it feels like we’re constantly about to fall off our to-do list, drop one of the many balls flying, or miss a critical seeding for late-season successions, deadheading reminds me that letting go is just as essential as abundant harvests.
That letting go leads to more blooms. To more harvests. To more bouquets on the kitchen table.
When my energy is scattered, snipping off seedheads reminds me that I can snip off what isn’t working and focus my energy on one thing: to bloom.
What can you cut back right now?
What areas of the garden or your life could benefit from some deadheading?
And what areas could flourish with more energy?
Seems the deer deadhead for me! Argh!
Very helpful video! Gorgeous bed of flowers!
Wish I lived there to buy them!
Ahh those deer! I’m glad this helped, though 🙂 There are some flowers, like marigolds, along with herbs that can deter deer. You can try planting them around the border of your garden to discourage the deer from snacking in there.