Did you know that the Chinese money plant holds an Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society? One of the qualifying factors for the award is that the plant must be hardy. Secondly, the plant must not require highly specialist growing conditions or care.
Pilea plants are hardy down to USDA zone 10 and have exhibited outstanding excellence for garden use and decoration.
What does this mean for you?
Let me guess something about you. If you’re like most people, you hate to crouch down or kneel to plant, maintain or harvest your veggies. If I’m right you need to read this. You know how excruciating your back pain feels that you end up walking around like a robot? I do. That wouldn’t be an issue if you had a Keter Raised Garden Planter.
You don't need acres of farmland to have your very own fruits orchard.
Nothing turns a city rooftop into a verdant paradise so much as an orchard of potted fruits, especially when they are in blossom, buzzing with pollinating bees, or dripping with fruit.
But even if you have a tiny balcony, it's really worth including a fruit tree.
Whether it's a single pear tree or a line of fan-trained peaches, apricots, plums, and espaliered apple trees edging a terrace, fruits bring a structure and a delicious sense of maturity to a balcony or roof garden.
On just a quarter-acre of land, you can produce fresh, organic food for a family of four—year-round.
You did your best – cared for your daffodils by providing them with a conducive environment for them to bloom and flourish. But now that the flowers are gone, should you deadhead daffodils after they bloom? Is it even necessary to do so?
My short answer; you should definitely deadhead them once they are done with blooming. After all, they have already lost their attraction by fading hence spoiling their spring appearance.
But this is not the only reason.
Read on to find out:
Deadheading is the practice of removing spent flowers. If left alone, the plant will begin the process of seed development assuming pollination took place during flowering.
This and below are the main reasons why you should consider daffodils deadheading after they complete blooming.
Like we’ve already seen, fading flowers are not very appealing and hence you need to remove them from the plant. Only leave fresh looking flowers to ensure your plants are looking as attractive as possible.
As a survival mechanism, the plant prioritizes seed formation over any other process by directing all its food energy towards the seed pod. This is not desirable for ornamental flowering plants such as the daffodils.
Although, seed pod formation on daffodils has little impact on plant vigor, it’s still necessary to deadhead them.
Here’s why:
Adequate amounts of food must be stored in the bulbs in order for the daffodils to bloom the following spring. And the sooner the conservation begins the better.
Deadheading also means the leaves will have to work less hard to build up the necessary energy reserves for the subsequent flowering.
Now that we’ve seen why it’s necessary to deadhead these spring beauties, at what point in time should you remove the spent flowers?
Well, there is actually no right time and you can remove them as soon as you’re able to. A bit of delay won’t cause any damage. However, as a rule of thumb, deadhead flowers that have wilted or that are looking scruffy.
The best and simplest way is to just pinch off the faded blooms with finger and thumb. If you have many spent flowers to deadhead, consider using secateurs, scissor or a knife.
In case you don’t have any of these tools, you can check out this garden pruner that is cheap, lightweight and comfortable for you.
Completely, remove flowers, along with the seed capsule. However, leave the green flower stalk in place as this photosynthesises (produces food), helping to build up the bulb to flower well next season.
Daffodil foliage typically persists for four to six weeks after blooming. During this period, the daffodil foliage is manufacturing food.
Much of the food is transported down to the bulbs.
In order to bloom, daffodils must store adequate levels of food in their bulbs. Cutting off the foliage before it has died back naturally may prevent the plants from storing adequate food in the bulbs.
Allow the daffodil foliage to die completely before removing it.
You’ve deadheaded your daffodils and even cut the leaves back. Now what next?
Deadheading daffodils is not only necessary but also important in ensuring your plants look both attractive and in top shape.
Not to forget; when you deadhead your daffodils, you give them the best chance to conserve energy for the season’s blooming.
Let me know if you found this article helpful in any way. Comment below and happy gardening!
References
Almanac – How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Daffodils
Iowa State University - Yard and Garden: Caring for Daffodils
RHS – Deadheading Plants
Featured Image – House Beautiful
Is growing cucumbers a matter of hit – miss affair for you?
Every time you attempt growing them, either the seeds simply don’t germinate or the plants end up dying eventually. But what’s worse is the feeling that you’re no good with plants.
So, you do what every hopeless gardener does - you give up.
Not your fault:
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