Pardon the quality of the picture above. I just wanted to take a quick snap of today’s deadheading project. Deadheading flowers helps to encourage new blooms. So as some of my July blooming perennials are fading, I am happily plucking away at the spent blooms.

I am taking the scissors liberally to the tall long blooming salvia – the tall flowering stems are laying on the ground dropping their little seeds – any many tiny salvia have sprouted below the stems. Once again I am taking the scissors to the spent diantus (pinks) and roses.

The yellow coreopsis which has done so well this year is easily deadheaded, and the little seeds drop from the flowers as I do so. I’m OK with more coreopsis anywhere it wants to be at this point.

The foxglove in the picture above is now mostly spent. I don’t want them to seed in the same place, as I know the first year of growth for these biennials will be bloom free. As the foliage is so big, I don’t want to take up the same front and centre place with them next year. So I am cutting the big stems of seed pods, carrying them gently to some barren garden spots – and then shaking them all around. These dried seedpods are like little saltshakers of seed. I’m sure it’s too late already as some self seeding in the same spot will occur next year, but at least I will have some future blooms in some of my project garden areas.