To sustain continuous blooms of bee balm throughout summer, experts suggest deadheading – a method explained here with steps and suitable timing.
Deadheading bee balm might not be essential for its growth, but if you're keen on savoring the long-lasting beauty of these vibrant flowers and ensuring a healthier plant, it's worth the effort!
While deadheading isn't necessary for bee balm, here are the perks you'll enjoy by doing so: a visually pleasing, neat plant all season, an extended display of blooms, and a reduced risk of powdery mildew — a common fungal issue in humid weather.
'By removing spent flowers, your plant will redirect its energy towards forming fresh buds instead of seeds, ensuring continuous color from July right up to late summer,' says Jessica Mercer, a dedicated plant enthusiast and the Senior Content Marketing Coordinator at Plant Addicts.
Since bee balm is a beloved nectar source for garden pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, deadheading allows for a longer season of flowers for you to appreciate, along with more blooms providing food for these essential creatures.
So when should you deadhead bee balm? This delightful plant usually flowers in early to midsummer, though some early varieties may start blooming in late spring. Begin deadheading as soon as you notice the first flowers start to fade on the plant. It's easiest to make deadheading a part of your regular summer gardening routine, checking your plants every couple of days and removing spent flowers as required.
Jessica Mercer suggests that a quick inspection once or twice a week is simpler than waiting to tackle a mass of brown seed heads later. After all, the benefits outweigh the minimal effort involved!
If you wish to let the bee balm reseed naturally or plan to collect seeds to sow next year, stop deadheading in early fall to allow some flowers to go to seed.
When it comes to deadheading bee balm, simplicity is key. Use clean, sharp pruning shears or garden snips for a precise cut. Snip the flower stem just above the first set of leaves or growing side bud. Avoid removing buds; that's a deadheading error that deprives you of potential flowers. If an individual stem has finished its flowering cycle and no new buds are forming, cut it back to the base to stimulate new flowering shoots from the root.
Deadheading bee balm is also an opportunity to effectively home-compost any spent flower heads and stems that are free of disease.
In addition, bee balm rewardingly responds well to the Chelsea Chop, a pruning technique typically performed in late May or June. This technique stimulates the development of numerous side shoots, translating into an abundance of blooms on more compact plants. Simply cut back the perennial up to a third to benefit from this technique's charms!
By deadheading spent flowers on bee balm, you can encourage the plant to produce more fresh buds, extending the blooming period and maintaining a vibrant garden display. Additionally, removing spent flowers regularly can help prevent powdery mildew and provide a favorable lifestyle for garden pollinators, allowing them to feed on more blooms during the home-and-garden season.
