How To Deadhead Pansies

Plant pansies in pots and containers or in your garden beds for a profusion of spring colors. Gardeners, both experienced and novice, appreciate pansies for their easy care and many varieties. Removing the spent blooms keeps the pansies from producing seeds and allows the plants to continue to produce plentiful flowers, sometimes all the way into fall. This process is known as deadheading. Don't think of it as a chore, but as a way to spend quality time in your flower beds.

Step 1

Study the pansy plant for spent blooms that are beginning to wilt or already have wilted. Separate the stem with the spent bloom gently from the neighboring stems.

Step 2

Snip off the bloom right above the set of leaves directly below it. A new flower node will form at the leaf juncture.

Step 3

Look for areas where the petals have already dropped and the seeds are beginning to form. Snip off above the leaves directly below it.

Step 4

Deadhead any damaged or sickly looking flowers to prevent any possible disease from spreading to the rest of the plant by snipping in the same way.

Step 5

Check pansies every one to three days while flowering for blooms that need to be deadheaded.

They can thrive through summer's heat and into mild winter conditions and look pretty doing it with little maintenance. The many different varieties of this common garden grower offer quite a colorful punch to pots and raised garden beds throughout the growing season. Pansies grown in pots can become leggier than those that are allowed more leg room in garden beds. Although most pansies require little maintenance, make sure to plant a variety that works the best for the sun and temperature of your garden. Each variety of pansy blooms at its own pace. Pansies can bloom throughout the year with proper care. For warmer climates, pansies will do well with dappled shade. Pansies are hardy and can be planted in cold-winter regions in the fall. It may seem counterproductive, but clipping and pulling spent flowers from the plant helps it to grow faster and have a longer bloom period. If the flowers fall to the side on the tender stems, cut them back a minimum of 5 inches and up to 7 inches.