a lesson on deadheading.

put your tie-dye away, i'm talking about gardening here.

my friend nicol called me up wanting me to take some "dead houseplants" of hers. she claimed that they were getting worse every day. i asked her if she knew what they were, and if she was giving them enough sunlight. i then told her that the chlorine in the water could be killing them. she told me she didn't know, but didn't care and that i could just have them. always up for a gardening challenge, i agreed to attempt to save them. when she brought them over, i almost laughed.
they weren't houseplants, but instead potted flowers. one was a gerbera daisy and the other was some hybrid mini daisy. and though the flowers were wilted and dry, the greens were in excellent shape- properly watered and strong. honestly, my houseplants don't ever look that great. so i had to break the news to her- her plants weren't dying- they just needed to be deadheaded. flowers can't live forever, and those that do not drop off on their own need to be cut off on occasion.

so here's the basic lesson because i seem to have this same conversation with others several times per season... when the flowers fade (with the exception of tulips, etc.) you can cut off the spent blooms to promote new growth. cut all the way down the stem until you reach the next node or leaf bud. this will encourage the plant to put it's energy into growing new shoots and buds instead of feeding spent blooms that are not going to revive themselves. you can cut down just an inch or so to the next node, or you can be more aggressive if you want to significantly downsize your plant, or shape it. as long as you cut back to a node, and not leave a length of empty stem, something good will come of it. if you're cutting back tulips, daffodils, and the like, it is necessary to let all of the greenery die back before cutting the whole thing down for the summer. bulb plants store their energy in the bulb- think of it like a computer memory or a rechargeable battery- they need to get all of their energy out into the plant before they can fully recharge and have a strong growth the next year.

questions? feel free to comment. i'll answer any of your gardening questions. but the bottom line is to always cut back your plants- whether they're sugar magnolias or china cat sunflowers. and remember to water regularly with morning dew or a box of rain, or some heavily chlorinated tap water.