Gentle pruning encourages these hard-working plants to deliver wave after wave of blooms.
Zinnias are gorgeous flowering annuals that attract butterflies to the garden and make excellent cut flowers.
To keep zinnias blooming all summer long, flowers should be removed as they begin to fade.
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This is calleddeadheading flowers, a simple pruning technique that encourages new growth and re-blooming.
Learn how to deadhead zinnias to keep your plants blooming continuously, summer through fall.
Why You Should Deadhead Zinnias
Zinnias are deadheaded to encourage plants to produce more flowers.
Zinnias are annual flowerstheir life goal is to reproduce.
Once their flowers are pollinated, plants stop blooming and shift their energy into producing seed.
Deadheading zinnias cuts away those pollinated flowers before they can develop seed.
The plant tries again, quickly sending out new flowers to replace the ones you cut.
Deadheading, in essence, tricks the plant into reblooming.
Deadheading also keeps plants looking their best.
Most flowers lose their attraction as they fade, leaving an unsightly brown head behind.
Begin deadheading as soon as the first blooms begin to fade.
If you missed this cue, thats okay, deadhead declining flowers as soon as you notice them.
Each individual zinnia flower can last for several weeks before it needs to be removed.
Spending a few minutes every couple of days makes deadheading a much easier task.
And it gives you a reason to spend time in the garden, which can be quite relaxing.
In fact, many gardeners find deadheading enjoyable and meditative.
In spring you’re free to sow the seeds in the garden after thethreat of frosthas passed.
Make each cut below the flower head, just above a set of healthy leaves.
This prevents you from leaving unsightly bare stems sticking up from the plants.
Some gardeners like to cut stems farther back to manage the height of their plants.
Zinnias are resilient plants and respond well to cutting back.
Just remember to make the cut above a set of healthy leaves.
Does Pinching Zinnias Work?
Pinching is different from deadheading, though you may hear thesetypes of pruningused interchangeably.
Pinching promotes compact branch growth that makes the plant fuller, while deadheading encourages more blooms.
If your plant already has buds, wait until after they bloom to deadhead them.
What To Consider When Trimming
Zinnias produce a sulfur compound on their leaves that ismildly toxicif eaten.
Be sure to wash your hands after handling zinnias or wear gloves when pruning.
The toxin is nothing to worry about, just dont eat your zinnias.
Thanks to their profusion of blooms, zinnias make great plants for beginning gardeners.
With occasional deadheading, you will be rewarded with vibrant blooms all summer long.
Yes, cutting zinnia stems to display in a vase causes the plant to produce more blooms.
So don’t be afraid to cut zinnias in your cutting gardenit encourages more flowers.
Zinnias are fast growers and they top out as small as 6 inches or as tall as 4 feet.
Their quick growth rate means they shade weeds.
Scattering seeds may cause dense growth that will smother weeds.
