The Deadheads Are Alive And Well

Oh we all know who the deadheads are, we run around the garden clipping and cutting spent blooms and plants.  We also deadhead other peoples plants when we are visiting or walking by, even at the shopping mall, how could they let those dead blooms stay on their container plants?

I haven't been up to Wisconsin in two months and I am afraid my Knockout roses have been neglected.  I used the Bayer Systemic on them for Japanese Beetles and not one in sight.  In previous years they had just about been destroyed!  I can't figure out why I didn't have the same results at home.  Knockouts will produce new buds without deadheading but they look messy.

All the dead buds have been clipped off, fertilizer has been applied and it is ready to bloom again.  Do not use the five leaf method on this, just clip off the dead buds.

It is an action that is almost uncontrollable, we want growth to keep going, lengthening the season forever.  I have had a few questions lately on deadheading the hows and when and the difference between deadheading and rejuvenating.

Coreopsis Zagreb benefits from a shearing in the early spring to promote spreading and then again after bloom, clean up with pruning shears for stray spent flowers. 

Coreopsis Zagreb ready for rebloom

Dianthus Firewitch is certainly ready to be sheared back for rebloom before the fall coolness takes over.

Shearing does not mean taking away any of the lower growth but removing all of the spent flower stalks down to the bottom.

Shasta Snow Lady needs to be cut low if it going to rebloom, sometimes it does and sometimes I get just a couple of blooms.  However, it does form a lovely green mat going into the fall.

My May Night Salvia in Wisconsin has been let go or it would have rebloomed a couple of times by now.  I will cut it low down to the green stalk and expect some rebloom before fall.

The Walker's Low Nepeta can be sheared down low or can just be pruned taking off all of the spent flowers.  It will rebloom lightly before the fall.

Ater you have pruned your earlier phlox for reblooming you might want to have Phlox Eva Cullum which is a later blooming phlox.  It is not as mildew resistant as some of the new ones but I plant it in back of my Rainbow Knockout and also pick off the mildewed leaves.

David is also a later blooming phlox and taller than most.  I moved mine last fall and it is doing well but it sure doesn't look like my daughter's!  Mine will probably never be this full or tall because I have it in not quite full sun whereas hers gets a good dose of sun all day.

I have been taking care of my daughter's garden while she is away, but this is who I found patrolling when I arrived to photograph David.  It's convenient that rabbits play like they are a statue when threatened long enough for me to snap this picture!

Phlox David

Tetrena's Daughter is shown in the header, a mid-season to late bloomer approximately forty-eight inches tall.

The Layered Garden

When you have a layered garden like mine it is important that that spent plants be deadheaded and cut down so the next show can begin.

Bubblegum Phlox is ready to be deadheaded cut just below the spent flower buds.  This is one of the most mildew resistant phlox but it obviously has had some other issues that did not affect the blooming.

Daylilies play a big part in my garden all season but the early bloomers take up room with messy foliage and no blooms.  Underneath these earlier daylilies I have interplanted Plumbago which is late to appear in the spring and blooms in late summer and fall.  The daylilies are cut back to develop smaller clumps of fresh leaves and let the Plumbago peek through.

Daylily foliage from Dark Ruby

Dark Ruby foliage trimmed down to expose Plumbago.  Daylilies will sprout fresh leaves and the Plumbago will bloom in the late summer and early fall.

Deadheading clematis can be very rewarding such as this Hagley Hybrid which will put on a show as long as those fuzzies are cut off.  The flowers are not quite as large as the springtime flush but just beautiful as a background.

Carefree Beauty will bloom off and on all summer if deadheaded and fertilized.

This is what I have been finding each morning when I go out to water!  They are not something I want to pick off and put in soapy water, Yikes!  I usually spray them with a strong stream of water, doesn't work, they hold on for dear life.  Sevin works, but another group is back the next morning.  I even used the Bayer product that is supposed to stop this.

Pink Promise seems to have escaped the Japanese Beetles but it is battling rose midge.  I can barely keep up with all of the aliens in my garden.

Certain roses still have to be deadheaded to produce continual blooming, the Hybrid Teas, Floribundas, and some Shrub roses to keep them within bounds.  The Knockouts supposedly do not have to be deadheaded to produce flowers but I prefer to keep up with the dead blooms for appearance.

Duchess Of Albany is a later blooming clematis in my garden because it it along the fence that has the lilac peeking over from the neighbor's yard.  It is a huge clematis and I have often thought about saying goodbye to it, but this year it has sort of begged to stay on by being a bit more controlled.

As we are saying goodbye to some of our early bloomers we are saying hello to others that herald the waning of summer.  This is Ligularia Rocket and comes up behind my sun plants in the back border.

Platycodon is in full bloom below the island phlox and rose garden.  It is too large for the edge and may have to be moved so it doesn't fall over.  Oh, we love moving things don't we?

Volcano Pink Phlox with a white eye has taken over for Bubblegum Phlox, not as vivid but definitely acceptable as a replacement.

This plant certainly reminds me of fall, Boltonia Nana, earlier than the other Boltonias and smaller.

A beautiful coneflower and I do not have the name, don't think it is Kim's Knee High as I have this in another location.  It is pretty short only about fourteen inches high, help!

Tetrina's Daughter is a mid-season to late bloomer and is more yellow than the photo.  It is tall and slender about forty-eight inches in height.

Miss Bateman is blooming later than usual but it is in  part shade and had been sheared down by the rabbits in the winter.

Heatwave

It's been an interesting week of survival in 100 degree heat for many of the plantings that we choose to grow in zone 5!

Zahara Zinnia is my plant of choice for the south side of my house.  They love the heat.

My roses have been attacked again this year even though I used the new Bayer Systemic advertised to combat Japanese Beetles.

The containers have required watering two to three times per day to keep from wilting;

Redhead Coleus is planted in my smaller turquoise containers, too small for this large of a plant.  These are the containers that I had to water three times a day in the heat!

Indian Summer Coleus can withstand high heat without wilting.

The tightly planted back border looks great because the plants shade each others roots.

The mid-season daylilies are blooming joining the end of the early and extra early (Eileen Clymer, extra early, has bloomed for six weeks).

Mary Todd in the foreground is an early bloomer but it is overlapping with a mid-season bloomer in the background.

Chicago Rosy in the background

Cherry Cheeks in the back garden side border.  It is a mid-season to late season bloomer.

Dark Ruby

Early to mid-season still blooming at the end of July!

Chicago Apache

This is a mid-season daylily that has just begun to bloom in the raised bed on the south side.

Entrapment

I purchased this at Home Depot last year mainly because of the name.  Entrapment is a mid-season bloomer.  It is a shorter daylily and I will have to move it in the fall because it is behind Eileen Clymer and blooms after but is hidden by the long blooming Eileen.

Ice Carnival

It is more of a yellow tinged white and grows in my raised bed vegetable garden mid-season.  The nice thing about it is that the day old flowers are hardly noticeable as mushies.

Nutcracker Suite

Very strong scapes on this mid to late season bloomer, tinged with peach.

Rain spattered Mauna Loa early to  mid-season (big storm again today) in the front garden.

Joan Senior

Supposedly one of the best whites mid-season but has never been a real strong grower for me.

Barbara Mitchell

One of the best pinks mid-season but has been in two years and this is the first year with blooms and very few!

Daylilies love the heat, still need some water, but are great performers! 

Lovely Lilies

I have used lilies off and on in my gardens throughout the years but I think I can finally say they are here to stay in my present garden.

This is an Asiatic Tango Lily, believe it is called Honey Bee.  I had Halloween last year in my garden but it didn't come back.

This is an Asiatic called Regal.

I am not thrilled with having to stake certain types and the fading of the darker colors is a disappointment.

Orienpet Satisfaction

Orienpet Satisfaction faded

It will take a little moving around so that I can give the beautiful raspberry one a little more shade.  Like daylilies I will need to study the bloom times so that I can have lilies in the garden all season.

Orienpet Lavon is my favorite, beautiful fragrance and lasts longer than the others.

Orienpet Lavon Look Alike in the back border.  It looks similar but I do not have the name of this one!

Orienpet Lavon with Dark Ruby Daylily.

Lilies look great mixed in with other perennials such as phlox and daylilies.  This lily is Orienpet Conca D'Or with Blue Paradise Phlox. 

I purchased a bag of mixed lilies (all Orienpet) but most of them were too small to bloom this year.  I won't do this again as I was planning on having extended color in the raised bed garden where my daylilies reside.

Orienpet Anastasia

Only three or four will bloom out of twenty-five bulbs, all came up but not with flowerheads.

Remember, when you plan to use lilies in your garden, they can become quite tall and probably will need staking.  The show is worth it!

Orienpet Lavon Look Alike

Orienpets can become four to six feet tall.

Orienpet Conca D'Or