How to Deadhead Agapanthus Blooms

Deadheading your agapanthus plants is an important aspect of their maintenance, and actually serves two purposes. Seed production takes a lot of effort on the part of any plant and it’s often not even desirable to the home gardener. Most folks would rather that their flowering plants make more and better blooms than waste precious energy for the sake of reproduction. Deadheading is the simple and logical solution for encouraging further blooming. Removing spent blooms will also keep your lily of the Nile plant looking tidy to better show off its attractive foliage throughout the summer blooming season.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• All-purpose fertilizer for blooming plants
• Organic compost
• Organic mulch
• Clean, sharp scissors or shears

1. Feed your agapanthus a good commercial all-purpose fertilizer for blooming plants at the beginning of spring. This will invigorate the plant so that it will perform at its very best during its blooming cycle. Fertilize once monthly throughout the growing season.

2. Apply a 2- or 3-inch layer of organic compost to your agapanthus bed. This will add valuable nutrients to the plant’s diet.

3. Add about an inch of organic mulch. It will help to retain moisture as well as go a long way toward weed control.

4. Cut agapanthus scapes freely for your indoor arrangements.

5. Pinch individual flowers from the globular clusters remaining on the plants as they fade. Leave the buds and the still attractive blooms intact.

6. Cut the flower scape from the plant with clean, sharp scissors or shears when all blooms in the cluster are spent. Follow the stem all the way down into the foliage to where it grows from the plant. Make a clean cut as close to the plant as possible.