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Q: My sister and I planted several large pots to decorate the back patio since we were hosting a couple of graduation parties and then a Memorial Day gathering. The plants have settled in nicely and most were in full bloom at just the right time. Lately I鈥檓 noticing more and more finished blooms that are starting to make the pots look worn out. Is there a way to get rid of the finished blossoms and keep the plants healthy? Will these plants rebloom? There are three main types of plants: geraniums, petunias and lantana. 鈥� D.D., sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A: The process you鈥檙e asking about is called deadheading. From the listing you offered, all of the plants listed are easily tended to and will usually continue to set new bloom for you until autumn. As long as you continue to take care of them.

It sounds like you are wanting to take good care of your investments, so here are the ways I鈥檒l recommend.

First the petunias. I want you to get a good look at the flower. Most people just pull the finished bloom off the plant and think they are done. I want you to notice how each flower grows out of a green support structure that grows out of the mother plant. If you just pluck out the finished flower, leaving the green support structure, the plant will continue to try and take care of that greenness, essentially wasting its energy. No new bloom will come out of that structure.

So, using a smallish pair of very sharp scissors go ahead and snip off that finished bloom holding structure. You don鈥檛 have to take the bloom off first; just be sure to snip away all of the old structure 鈥� bloom included 鈥� without cutting into the mother plant. You can even pinch them off with just a thumbnail if you don鈥檛 want to break out your tools.

The best time to snip or pinch is after the plant has had a good drink of water so everything is plump and no ragged edges will be made by the process.

Next, the geraniums. Again, make sure the plants are well watered and plump. I want you to feel the stalk that is wearing the bloom clump to the branch it grows out of. Notice that there is a sort of collar where the bloom stalk and the plant鈥檚 branch meet.

I place my thumb just on that collar and bend it away from the branch. If done properly and the plant is thoroughly hydrated, you鈥檒l feel a snap-pop, sometimes even hearing it, and the flower stalk comes away from the branch.

Voila! You have tidied the geranium, it鈥檒l stop wasting energy and grow new flower stalks pretty quickly. Every now and then my snap-pop will break off a piece of the geranium, and if that happens, I pinch off a few of the lower leaves, dip the end in rooting hormone powder, and plant it in the same pot as the mother plant or plant it in a much smaller pot to add to my collections.

I鈥檓 confident that in one season of feeling for the spot where the bloom stalk and the plant meet, you鈥檒l become a pro at the snap-pop.

Lastly, the lantana. I鈥檝e always just given mine a pruning to keep it from looking too shaggy. Once you have an arm that is mostly bloomed out, give it a light pruning so that the spent flowers are removed but you鈥檝e left enough foliage so it can still photosynthesize. 

Being encouraged to put on fresh new growth will promote continued bloom cycles for sure. Making sure the patio plants are adequately watered, offering a water soluble fertilizer suggested for bloomers, and keeping everybody deadheaded will keep the pots blooming for the rest of this growing season and all of the celebrations yet to come.

Happy Diggin鈥� In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Diggin鈥� In, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, 7777 Jefferson NE, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.