Deadheading Knautia
1634 Racine
Posts: 568
in Plants
Quick poll.
I have Knautia Melton Pastels flowering beautifully at the moment. I'm seeing various different opinions on whether to deadhead or not.
What is everybody else's approach?
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I'm growing these for first time this year so would be glad to hear the consensus of opinion ..
Life's too short to be decapitating flowers
In the sticks near Peterborough
Everything in its turn Hazel, after the knautias, something else.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I dead head Knautia macedonica Melton pastels. I think it prolongs flowering, usually there is a bud ready to open if you stop it making seed from the first one in the sequence.
Carol Klein suggests do not deadhead - "In most cases, gardening experts advocate dead-heading to prolong summer flowering. However, in the case of Knautia macedonica this is both unnecessary and unwise. The seed heads actually enhance the look of it and provide food for birds. In common with all scabious, this is an important wildlife plant, providing nectar for hoverflies, bees and butterflies."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3322968/How-to-grow-Knautia-macedonia.html
The seedheads are pretty cool and I suppose it would be one less job in the garden. Just worried that I will miss out on some lovely flowers later in the season.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I only had two plants last year that i deadheaded the first part of the summer. I let them be after that and i've got seedlings all over the place now. Not a problem as i like them but do they self seed like mad if you don't deadhead them at all?
I already have thousands of verbena bonariensis to deal with (i'm still gobsmacked at the price GC sells them for... I should be a billionnaire ?)