While regular trimming and tidying benefit a plant’s appearance and form, those easy-breezy growers that flower without tending are an asset. Whether a single flush of flowers or continual color, plenty of plants don’t need deadheading to produce.
Deadheading is the common practice of removing fading flowers. For some plants, leaving blooms in place promotes extended interest and seed production, especially late in the season. Enjoy a blend of annuals, perennials, and woody plants that don’t require deadheading for a long-lasting display.
Benefits of Deadheading
Plants don’t rely on deadheading to grow, but it promotes further flowering and improves form to enhance the display. Removing spent blooms redirects energy from seed production and channels it into flowering. The extended season enlivens the display and promotes nectar and pollen for beneficial insects.
For plants that flower in a single flush, deadheading will not promote more blooms but will tidy the appearance. It may also direct energy to leafy growth rather than seed production and can improve air circulation among stems and leaves.
Clipping faded flowers keeps plants from self-seeding. Deadheading is a good practice for aggressive re-seeders and for preventing unwanted volunteers.
Reasons Not To Deadhead
Removing aged blooms has significant benefits for plant quality and bloom time. However, there also benefits to leaving them intact. Low-maintenance bloomers are happy to grow without gardener intervention. Some plants are “self-cleaning,” meaning they naturally drop petals and reflower without missing a beat. Others are sterile through breeding and flower continuously without producing seeds.
Mature and drying flowers are often pretty in the landscape. Timing is a factor, where you may deadhead throughout the season and hold off for later benefits.
Leaving the spent blooms offers advantages in going to seed. Some plants produce showy seed heads and pods for extended interest. They may drop and sprout to continue the colony. Many have wildlife value as food sources for songbirds and small mammals. Seeding allows us to collect and store seeds for future use.
Black-Eyed Susan
Easy-going, black-eyed Susan produces daisy-like golden blooms nonstop from summer through frost. The yellow-orange ray flowers have chocolate button centers. Slender, multi-branched stems rise above deep green basal leaves.
This adaptable native wildflower occurs in prairies and meadows in the South, Central, and Western United States. It’s self-sustaining across growing conditions, including heat, humidity, and drought.
Rudbeckia self-seeds in the landscape. The seeds require cold stratification (winter chill) to germinate. Birds enjoy the post-bloom seeds.
Melampodium
Melampodium forms a cushion of bright, buttery-yellow blooms. The little ray flowers blanket the plant all summer. The attractive leaves mound densely in velvety green.
Melampodium is a sun-loving annual that is drought-tolerant once established. It’s one of the easiest to grow, carefree in the landscape with adequate moisture.
Plants hold their tidy appearance and bloom profusely without deadheading or pinching. The abundant daisy flowers attract pollinators, and the seeds offer a food source for songbirds.
Coreopsis
Coreopsis is a reliable perennial with early blooms that last well into fall. Fine-textured foliage gives way to prolific stems of feathery, flat-petaled flowers.
The species blooms in golden yellow, with cultivars in lemon, pink, scarlet, white, and bicolor. Some have fuzzy double blooms instead of daisy rays. Flowers are a favorite nectar and pollen source for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.
Coreopsis is drought—and heat-tolerant. It self-seeds readily in the landscape, and birds forage on the seeds in fall and winter.
Impatiens
Impatiens are among the most popular bedding plants for a good reason: they brighten up shady zones with seemingly endless delicate blooms. Dark, little-leaved foliage creates a soft backdrop for petals In shades from baby pink to hot orange.
Impatiens walleriana is the classic shade—and moisture-loving species with petite leaves and flowers. ‘New Guinea,’ with long, dark leaves and larger flowers, tolerates partial sun, and ‘Sunpatiens’ selections handle sunny positions.
Impatiens are self-cleaning and keep the blooms coming without removal. They may reseed, though seedlings will be a mix of colors if the parent is a hybrid. Hybrids don’t come true from seed.
Echinacea
Echinacea is a top easy-care perennial. A North American native, E. purpurea is a prairie wildflower that thrives in the heat. Its long, purple ray petals surround prominent orange disc florets, a prime nectar source for beneficial insects.
Coneflower cultivars abound in vibrant purples, pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges. Improved habits are more compact in a range of heights. Coneflower grows in various soils and conditions. It needs good drainage for best health and flowering.
Leave late-season blooms on the stem; the dried seed heads provide lasting winter interest and food for wildlife. Dropped seeds expand the colony the following spring. They benefit from cold stratification to germinate.
Petunia ‘Supertunia’
Petunias are another favorite annual for waves of color in spring through frost. Leafy stems mound and cascade, lined with tubular blooms.
The ‘Supertunia’ series features top performers with vigorous habits and colorful flowers. The flowers are a beacon for beneficial insects and hummingbirds. ‘Supertunia’ is also more heat-tolerant than some selections and withstands moderate drought.
Many petunias, including smaller-flowered plants and newer cultivars, are self-cleaning and don’t require deadheading for prolific blooming. Large or double-flowered types benefit from clipping spent petals. Old-fashioned grandiflora varieties usually see the most advantages.
Astilbe
Astilbe is a fun one to leave on the stem post-bloom. The tufts of feathery plumes persist for interest beyond the bloom time and develop seed heads.
Dense, pyramidal bloom spikes hold hundreds of florets that open in succession. In shades of pink, red, purple, or white, the blooms set in spring and open through early summer. Cutting off fading flowers won’t promote further flowering.
In addition to its colorful spikes, astilbe has glossy green leaves with tinges of red and copper. It’s relatively easy to grow with consistent moisture and rich soils.
Blanketflower
Blanketflower thrives with neglect and seems to appreciate it. It grows in poor, sandy soils and adapts to various site conditions, including coastal situations. A sturdy North American native perennial, the drought—and heat-tolerant bloomer produces until frost.
Blanketflower has whirling, daisy-like flowers in vivid golds, oranges, reds, and bi-color. Brown button centers accentuate the ray petals.
With well-draining soils, blanketflower needs little else. Removing old stems promotes flowering and tidies the plant, but it’s not essential.
False Indigo
Baptisia, or false indigo, is ideal to leave on the stem because of its unusual seed pods. False indigo blooms once a season, so to extend interest, skip the clipping for showy seed pods that add winter interest.
In spring and summer, false indigo boasts numerous spikes of blue-purple, lupine-like flowers. Cultivars in sky blue, purple, white, yellow, and bicolor blooms create a pronounced display on denser forms. Its blue-green foliage is soft, full, and attractive all season.
Baptisia is native to the eastern U.S. and grows naturally along streambanks, meadows, and open woodlands. A Perennial Plant Association award-winner, baptisia is long-lived. Native bees and bumblebees appreciate tucking into the blooms.
‘Carolina’ Rose
Carolina roses are native to eastern and central North America, where they grow naturally in prairies, open woods, roadsides, streambanks, and wetland margins. Bright pink blooms emerge in a spring flush. The petals are loose and open with yellow centers that draw pollinators.
These adaptable roses thrive in a wide range of light and soil conditions. Foliage is dark green and smooth, with a burnished scarlet fall color. Bright red hips appear in late summer and extend into the cool season.
Wild species roses and old garden roses bloom vigorously without deadheading. Feel free to clip as you desire for appearance and quick re-flowering, but don’t fret if you leave these beauties to their own devices. Avoid deadheading once-flowering roses that produce rose hips for multi-season appeal.
Bleeding Heart
Bleeding heart, with its pendulous flowers on graceful stems, brings woodland and wildflower appeal. In late spring, heart-shaped, puffy blooms in white, pale pink, and fuchsia dangle from arching stems.
If you live in a warmer area, plants will enter dormancy in the heat of summer. In cool climates, Dicetnra blooms from spring through fall.
Enjoy the spring display, and if you have room for more plants, let blooms remain in place to develop seeds. They’ll self-sow to expand the collection.
Sedum
Sedum, or stonecrop, brings exciting color and texture through its foliage and flowers, even after they fade. The heat-tolerant succulents typically bloom in summer and early fall.
The favorite Hylotelephium ‘Autumn Joy’ has large clusters of tiny, starry flowers in the fall. The late-season blooms emerge as pink flowerheads and gradually become deep rose-red, fading to copper as they mature. ‘Autumn Fire’ is similar, with tighter branching, brighter, rosy pink blooms, and thicker leaves.
The late-season flowers are a food source for bees and butterflies, followed by seeds for birds. Fresh and dried flower heads make beautiful autumnal floral arrangements. You can also let them persist on the stem for extended interest in the seedheads.
Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’®
Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’® glitters with tiny white flowers that cover mounds of small, deep green leaves. Their delicate look belies a rugged nature as an easy-care heat and drought-tolerant annual.
Equally durable is ‘Diamond Snow’®, a variety that produces clouds of slightly larger white blooms for a denser look. Both selections appeal to pollinators, who manage to extract food from the little flowers.
The airy white sprays don’t need trimming to keep producing. Use them as “filler” plants in warm-season containers or front-of-the-border arrangements.
‘PeeGee’ Hydrangea
Any late-flowering or reblooming hydrangea brings extended interest left on the stem, especially toward the season’s end. Deadhead reblooming types to promote flowering, but leave end-of-summer heads intact for texture.
‘PeeGee’ hydrangeas showcase bundles of tight conical blooms that emerge in late summer to early fall. Usually appearing in July through October, the pyramidal flower panicles begin as pinkish-red buds. They open to lime green florets and star-shaped flowers in creamy white. As the season progresses, the flowers transition to vintage pinks.
The huge panicle blooms eventually turn buff tan with age and cold weather. Showy autumn foliage turns tones of yellow and purple-red before dropping.
‘Grandiflora’ is exceptionally cold-hardy and thrives in summer heat and humidity. The large plants are robust growers in various garden conditions, making them among the most adaptable of the hydrangea group.
Perennial Sunflower
Perennial sunflowers have tall, multi-branched stems with clusters of yellow ray flowers. Plants bloom in late summer and fall for a burst of color as seasons change.
Helianthus angustifolius, or swamp sunflower, is a native U.S. perennial. It’s a host plant for the silvery checkerspot butterfly and native bees. Leaving aged flowers in place creates an excellent food source for birds. Grouse, quail, doves, and small mammals utilize the seeds in fall and winter.
Helianthus salicifolius, willow-leaved sunflower, grows with handsome foliage and profuse blooms on tall stems. Dwarf cultivars like ‘Low Down’ and ‘First Light’ grow two to four feet with compact forms that support blooms and sterile seeds.
Bacopa
Bacopa is a bright, compact trailing annual with flat-petaled white, blue, purple, or pink flowers. It maintains a tidy appearance and prolific blooming without clipping or pinching.
Cheery flowers recur from spring through frost, except for during high heat. Heat-resistant varieties like ‘Tried and True’ or ‘MegaCopa’ are more tolerant and have larger blooms and leaves.
Bacopa needs organically rich, evenly moist soils to thrive, though it tolerates drying out between waterings. Use it to spill over containers and hanging baskets.
Lantana
Lantana has colorful, continual blooms and low-maintenance requirements. As summer temperatures rise, rounded clusters of tubular flowers emerge in solid or multicolored arrangements.
Individual florets drop from the clusters, and metallic indigo berries emerge. There is no need to remove the self-cleaning flowers; even when fruiting, more clusters emerge.
Lantana is rugged and reliable in warm climates. It prefers regular water and soils with good drainage. However, it’s best to err on the dry side between waterings to avoid prolonged oversaturation.
Angelonia
Angelonia produces colorful bloom spikes in rich blue, purple, pink, rose, white, and bicolor that improve with warming temperatures. Also called summer snapdragon, two-lipped flowers line stems among deep green foliage and a mounded, bushy habit.
Angelonia thrives in full sun with rich soils and good drainage. It is drought, heat, and humidity-tolerant. The plants are self-cleaning and don’t need deadheading to promote flowering. In order to encourage a second flush of blooms after the initial rounds, cut plants back by half.
In humid growing areas, look for the ‘Archangel’ and ‘Serena’ series, both highly disease-resistant to phytophthora fungus rot. ‘Angelface Super Blue’ is among the tallest of the group, with bloom spikes that reach over three feet tall.
Torenia
Torenia produces multicolored trumpet flowers. The saturated bright pink, blue, purple, yellow, magenta, and white blooms sit loosely along the stems. It blooms from spring until frost with little care. Don’t worry about removing spent petals, but pinch stems to retain shape and promote new growth if plants lose their form.
This species performs best in moist, well-drained soils. The ‘Summer Wave’ and ‘Kauai’ series feature improved heat, humidity, and drought tolerance.
Browallia
Browallia has starry, five-petaled white, blue, or purple flowers. Also known as amethyst or sapphire flower, the rich hues shine against a lush backdrop of deep green leaves.
This beauty blooms from early summer through frost and overwinters indoors for multi-season flowering. Self-cleaning, petals fall on their own without manual removal.
It is a low-maintenance plant that requires little care other than consistent moisture. Pinch stems to encourage branching for a bushier form.
Columbine
Columbine is an ornamental North American native perennial with graceful, complex blooms. The nodding flowers range from vibrant red and yellow to beautiful blues, purples, and pinks.
Hummingbirds and other pollinators appreciate the nectar from the tubular blooms, and birds feed on the seeds in the fall. However, if allowed to go to seed, columbine self-sows for new plants in the following seasons.
It grows best in moderately moist, well-drained soils. Columbine is cold-hardy and enters dormancy in hot summer conditions.
