Canna Lily Deadheading
Should canna lilies be deadheaded? The jury is somewhat out on the question of both how to and if deadheading canna lily plants is necessary at all. Some gardeners are adamant that canna lily deadheading needlessly kills future blooms, while others faithfully cut spent flower stalks down to the ground. Neither method is necessarily “wrong”, since canna lilies are prolific bloomers. And both methods can result in more blossoms. However, a good compromise, and one used by plenty of gardeners, is to carefully remove just the spent flowers.
Pinching Off Spent Canna Blooms
The main point behind deadheading flowers is to prevent the setting of seed. Plants use up energy by making seeds, and unless you’re planning on collecting the seeds, that energy could be better used by making more flowers. Some canna lilies make big black seed pods, while others are sterile. Leave a flower or two and watch it – if you don’t see seed pods develop, you don’t need to deadhead except for aesthetics. If you are pinching off spent canna blooms, be careful. New buds usually form right next to the spent flowers. Cut off just the fading flower, leaving the buds in place. Pretty soon they should open up into new flowers. If you do happen to remove the buds or even the whole stalk, all is not lost. The plant will quickly grow new stalks and flowers. It will just take a little longer.
