Off with their heads!

Having just read another great Tudor history novel it made me think of deadheading flowers!

Most flowers benefit from having their flowerheads removed as soon as they have stopped flowering. Plants like Osteospermums and Senetti particularly like this as they produce further flowers. Plants like hydrangeas and sedums often benefit from leaving their flower heads on that little bit longer. Hydrangea flower heads kept on over winter protect new softer growth in the spring from frosts. April is a good time to cut them off though - simply shorten thin or old shoots of the mophead and lacecap varieties (e.g. macrophylla) back to their lowest bud. Hydrangea paniculata varieties should be cut back to within two buds of their base.

If like me you get addicted to chopping once you've started, cut back any lavatera you may have. They like to be cut back hard - go right back to the base of the plant on all of last year's shoots, they'll soon grow again this summer!