How to Deadhead Flowers

The short answer: deadheading means removing fading flowers, and you do it by pinching or snipping the spent bloom off back to just above the next bud or healthy leaves. The Royal Horticultural Society says it keeps displays looking better for longer and directs the plant’s energy into stronger growth and more flowers instead of seed pods. It takes minutes and needs no tools beyond your fingers or a pair of snips for most plants.

Here is where to cut, which plants reward it, and the ones to leave alone.

Why deadheading works

Penn State Extension’s Master Gardeners explain that once a plant finishes flowering it begins to form seed, flowering is suspended, and the plant puts its energy into the seed. Deadheading as soon as the blooms begin to fade redirects that energy and can bring a second flush. That is why a deadheaded bed of cut flowers can keep going much longer than an untouched one.

The RHS lists other benefits too: it stops plants with many petals, such as peonies, some camellias and many roses, scattering old petals everywhere, and it prevents plants that self-seed readily, such as common valerian, sea holly and lady’s mantle, from becoming a nuisance.

Where to make the cut

Pinch or snap soft stems. The RHS says the simplest method is to pinch or snap off faded blooms with finger and thumb, taking the flower with its stalk so the plant looks tidy.
Cut tough stems back to the next bud. For thick, tough or stringy stems, use secateurs, scissors or a knife, cutting back to just above the next bud (RHS). Penn State puts it as cutting below the spent flower and just above the first set of full, healthy leaves, after checking that no flower buds are hiding among the faded blooms.
Heads of many flowers. For delphiniums and lupins, the RHS suggests removing individual flowers where practical, then cutting the whole head back to just above a lower bud, leaf or side shoot, or to ground level, once all have finished.

Some specific plants, according to the RHS:

Pelargoniums: pinch off individual flowers, then remove the whole cluster and its long stalk down to just above where it joins the main stem.
Roses: gently snap faded hybrid tea flowers off just below the head, which the RHS says brings more blooms more quickly than cutting; on other roses, snip flowers or clusters back to just above the next leaf. Cup the flower in your hand first so the petals don’t scatter.
Shrubs such as rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and lilacs: snap off each dead head where it joins the stem, taking care not to damage the new buds just below.
Daffodils and other bulbs: pinch or cut through the stalk just behind the swollen seed capsule, and leave the green stalk in place because it keeps making food for the bulb.

Which plants reward deadheading

Plants that flower again after a cut back. The RHS says hardy geraniums, catmint and lady’s mantle produce a second flush if cut back close to ground level after flowering; pulmonaria and oriental poppies can be cut back too but usually only produce fresh leaves.
Perennials Penn State recommends deadheading: yarrow, astilbe, bellflower, Jupiter’s beard, coreopsis, delphinium, blanket flower, cranesbill, bee balm, evening primrose and garden phlox.
Summer bedding and containers. The RHS notes that some plants, such as summer bedding, may need deadheading daily.

If you grow for pollinators, deadheading a little at a time rather than stripping everything at once keeps some flowers open for bees and butterflies.

Which plants to leave alone

The RHS lists plants where deadheading isn’t necessary:

Plants that tidy themselves, such as fuchsias, bedding lobelias and salvias, which set little seed or drop their spent flowers.
Plants with seed loved by birds, such as rudbeckias, cornflowers and sunflowers. Penn State adds that birds perch on coneflowers to eat the seed heads and that rudbeckia seed is winter food for goldfinches.
Plants with decorative, bird-friendly hips or berries, such as many species and rambler roses, many viburnums and amelanchier.
Plants with ornamental seed heads, such as love-in-a-mist, stinking iris, honesty and Chinese lantern. These are part of year-round structure.
Plants with so many flowers that deadheading is impractical, such as deutzia, spiraea, thalictrum, many asters, sweet alyssum and trailing campanula.
Plants that are hard to reach safely, such as trees and vigorous climbers.
Plants you want to self-seed or collect seed from. Penn State names hollyhock, foxglove, cardinal flower and forget-me-not among those to leave so they reseed for next year.

How often

The RHS advice is to remove spent flowers as soon as they look scruffy, whatever the time of year: that could be daily for summer bedding, once a week or every other week for border perennials, and only once for plants such as lilacs after a short flush. It adds that a delay of a few days or even a week won’t greatly affect flowering, so there is no need to worry if you can’t check often.

Penn State notes that in autumn many gardens drop deadheading altogether, keeping seed pods on the plants for wildlife over winter and for their decorative look.

Plants working hard to rebloom need steady moisture; our watering calculator helps you gauge how much your beds and pots need in summer.

Where this leaves you

Deadheading is one of the most rewarding small jobs in a summer garden: a few minutes with your fingers, repeated through the season, and many plants keep flowering for longer. Cut back to the next bud or healthy leaves, know which plants to leave for seed heads, birds and self-sowing, and make a pass whenever the flowers look scruffy.

Sources

Royal Horticultural Society, Deadheading plants: how and why. Read 28 October 2026.
Penn State Extension, To Deadhead or Not? Your Final Answer is…. Read 28 October 2026.

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