Chrysanthemums, commonly called mums, are popular and vibrant flowers of the autumn season. These hardy plants offer a spectacular display of color when many other garden blooms have faded. As flowers age, deadheading becomes necessary to maintain the plant’s appearance and health. This technique involves removing spent or faded blossoms.
Why Remove Spent Blooms?
The primary purpose of removing spent flowers is to prevent the plant from diverting energy into seed production. A plant’s natural cycle involves flowering to create seeds. Once a flower fades, the plant begins to form a seed, drawing resources away from other growth.
By interrupting this process, deadheading redirects reproductive energy back into vegetative growth and the development of new flower buds. This promotes a bushier, healthier plant. Removing the brown, withered flowers also improves the plant’s aesthetic appeal, keeping the display tidy and allowing sunlight to reach lower, undeveloped buds.
Step-by-Step Instructions and Tool Selection
You can use scissors to deadhead your mums, provided they are sharp and clean. While dedicated garden snips or small pruning shears are often preferred for a cleaner cut, a sharp pair of household scissors is adequate for the task. The goal is to make a precise cut without crushing the stem tissue, which dull scissors might do.
Before starting, sanitize your cutting tool to prevent the spread of plant pathogens. Wiping the blades with rubbing alcohol or a dilute bleach solution before and after use minimizes the risk of introducing infection. This step supports the health of your chrysanthemum.
To remove a spent blossom, trace the stem down from the faded flower head to the nearest set of healthy leaves or a small, lateral bud. Make a clean, angled cut just above this node, as new growth will emerge from this point. Cutting to a leaf node ensures the remaining stem is hidden by foliage, maintaining the plant’s compact, rounded shape.
For plants with numerous small flowers, some gardeners may gently shear the top layer of faded blooms. This faster, less precise method should only remove the top layer of spent flowers to avoid cutting into unopened buds hidden lower in the foliage. Consistent, light removal is better than a single, heavy cut.
Extending the Bloom Season
Consistent deadheading throughout the blooming period encourages subsequent flushes of color. By removing faded flowers as soon as they lose their vibrancy, you signal to the plant that its reproductive cycle is incomplete. This can prolong the flowering season, sometimes yielding a second or even third round of blooms before the first hard frost arrives.
To support this new growth, attention to post-deadheading care is beneficial. Mums are thirsty plants, and consistent soil moisture is necessary to fuel the energy demands of producing new flowers. A balanced watering schedule, ensuring the soil remains moist but not waterlogged, supports the plant’s recovery and new bud formation.
A light application of a phosphorus-rich fertilizer can help maximize the display. Phosphorus is the middle number in the N-P-K ratio and is directly responsible for flower development and root strength. Providing this nutrient helps the chrysanthemum produce more robust secondary blooms and strengthens the roots for potential overwintering.