Smiles to you friends,
We are in one of the worst droughts here in Illinois.
Our winter was abnormally warm, and very little snow.
Temps have been high in the 90's and into the 100°
At this point I am watering my garden JUST to keep everything alive.
What are some things we can do during drought?
Read Lawn/Garden: Heat and Drought Care for some basics.
There's something else we can do to help our plants during drought - Deadheading!
What is deadheading?
Deadheading is very simple - it is the process of removing dead (spent) flowers from your plants.
See the flower on the left, it is dying (going to seed) this is the one to remove. The rest of the blooms are fresh and living.
As plants fade out of bloom, pinch with your fingers...
Or use a bloomer to cut off the flower stem below the spent flower and just above the first set of full, healthy leaves. Remove all the dead flowers on the plant.
Gardeners know that removing dead (spent) blooms (deadheading) promotes healthier plants, encourages new growth (branching) , and more and bigger blooms on the plant and prevents the flower from going to seed!
Note: Not all flowers require deadheading - Inpatients, Begonia and Cleome are examples of plants that are self-cleaning plants.
But in drought, we deadhead to extend the energy and nutrients back to the plant, helping the plant survive, INSTEAD of sending the nutrients to the dead blooms and forming seeds!
So deadhead in drought to help keep you plant alive!
What tips do you have to keep you plants alive during drought?
Wow, 100 degrees? That must be really hard for the plants. Even we deadhead but I had no idea its called deadhead. It's warm in here too but doesn't reach a 100. Beautiful flowers there
Keep cool.
Cathy this is such good advice especially since it seems many of us are in drought this year. I need to go do this now!
It rained in PA today!!! I thought I could hear my plants cheering when I pulled in the driveway. They were so happy to have rain. Deadheading is definitely good!!!
raining here in Seattle (what a surprise, right?) lol ~ i had a huge list of garden chores i was going to cross off today, but the rain is so heavy, i decided to go to lunch with a friend instead (at a local nursery of course!) Thak you so much for linking up to Fishtail Cottage's Garden party this week! hope you are having a great week! ooxx, tracie
It's 100 where I'm at too. Great tips. Looks like your efforts are working.
Well...since I've been back twice already this week -- I'm following
Now...I've been procrastinating on deadheading today so I'm headed outside!
Great tips!!! We're experiencing a major drought here in Kansas City, too. They're comparing it to the "Dust Bowl". I've been deadheading my geraniums and the foliage is gorgeous! No blooms, but the foliage is gorgeous : )
Needed this reminder -- have been slow to do this important chore this year. Need to be an earlier riser and get it done in the cool of the morning! Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday!
It's pretty much always a drought around here, so we don't have many pretty flowers. I have to stick to drought resistant plants.