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If you want to keep your garden blooming all summer, there's only one thing you need to know: Chopping off dead flower heads equals new flowers on the plants.
Removing dry or faded flowers from annuals, perennials and shrubs it's called "deadheading" -- is one of the most important weekly tasks all gardeners should perform. Your colorful blossoms attract lots of insects, which come for the nectar inside. As they flit from one blossom to another, they pollinate the flowers, and seeds start to form. When the flowers are faded, the seeds begin to mature and the plant has accomplished its goal of reproducing. And flower production is shut.
Deadheading your plants regularly forces them to keep trying to reproduce, and the colorful show in your garden will continue well into fall.
Here's how to deadhead: A pair of sharp scissors works for most plants, though you might need sharp garden shears for thicker stems. Carry a bucket or basket for all the dead flower heads hopefully you'll be putting them in your compost. Cut just below the blossom. Annuals, such as petunias, benefit from having the end of the stem cut right off. You'll find that the plant will grow bushier and put out a lot more blossoms.
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