It is actually a bad move: if summer flowers are robbed of their withered flowers, their instinct for survival sets in - and they keep producing new flowers. How that works exactly.
Münster (dpa / tmn) - You can encourage a plant that produces many flowers to bloom even more splendidly - by tricking them: You always cut off their flower heads when they have withered - and even before the seeds mature.
This is actually a bad move, because it interferes with the natural course of the plants: you virtually rob their offspring and address their instinct to survive. The life goal of the plant is namely to maintain its kind through the flower and seed formation.
New buds and flowers instead of seeds
So if you take the wilted flower heads away from her, she does not put her valuable energy into the formation of seeds in the wilted flowers. Instead, it quickly produces new buds and flowers to maintain the natural cycle. This is indicated by the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture.
For example, sweet peas, dahlias, petunias, geraniums, fuchsias, verbenas and bush daisies continue to bloom for a long time with this gardener trick. Another advantage: garden owners prevent some summer flowers from spreading in places where they don't want to.
Some plants produce wilted flowers themselves
But not all permanent bloomers need this trick. Because some breeding is self-cleaning. This means that she simply throws off her withered flowers and keeps producing new buds. Such plants do less work for the gardener.
With some other plants that do not belong to the so-called permanent bloomers - that is, they cannot form new buds all summer - you can at least achieve a second bloom by cutting them off. The lavender, for example, can sprout again if you reduce your shoots by about a third from the top after the first bloom, explains the Chamber of Agriculture.
If you are unsure, ask when buying from a garden center. The employees know which care needs which plant. This is often also stated on the signs on the plants.