How to Deadhead an African Daisy

Deadheading -- the process of removing aging blooms from flowering plants -- can extend the flowering season for plants such as African daisies. Flowers that are deadheaded will produce blooms longer because the plant will produce new flowers to replace the spent ones. However, the secondary flowers typically are not as large as the first ones, the Colorado State University Extension reports. In the case of African daisies, deadheading improves the appearance of the plants, making them look more fresh and neat throughout the growing season.

Instructions

1. Inspect your African daisy visually, looking for blooms that have wilted or browned or are damaged. Only spent blooms should be deadheaded, so make sure to differentiate between new flowers and buds and those that are dying off.

2. Remove the spent blooms by hand, discarding them with your yard waste.

3. Repeat the process of inspecting the plant and removing old flowers regularly to promote secondary blossoms and also improve the appearance of your African daisy.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are self-sowing your African daisy to collect seeds for future plantings, you will have to leave some of the blooms in place at the end of the season to allow them to create seeds, the Colorado State University Extension reports. You can deadhead the plant regularly early on, but be sure to leave some blooms from late in the season intact.

References

• Washington State University Whatcom County Extension; African Daisy; Cheryll Greenwood Kinsey
• Colorado State University Extension; The Art of Deadheading; Charleen Bar; July 2010
• The University of Minnesota; Perennial Pruning; 2006