I'll leave my Candytuft and Calendula at the end of summer as it will self seed and save me doing it next year, I'll also leave my Lavatera I learnt that by accident this year
I always deadhead my calendula until the last part of the summer and then let it go to seed and collect some. I don't know about candytuft, but I do know that allysum and lobelia are meant to benefit from cutting back to encourage a further growth in late summer and autumn.
And I remember a specialist grower of violas being interviewed at the Chelsea Flower show last year who said that if you cut your violas back by about a third in late July, early August, you will get a new flush of flowers at the end of summer.
I haven't tried this, especially as my violas are in beautiful full bloom at the moment, but mine were planted late this year. This is another plant that really benefits from regular deadheading, though.
It's not worth deadheading some flowers as they won't produce any more flowers. Poppies and sunflowers are two examples.
My Poached Egg plant looks really straggly so I think I'm going to cut that back today and see what happens, nothing to lose really because it's either that or just pull it up!
Well, Candytuft is only an annual that flowers its sock off and is just about done for now if you sowed seed early or last year. I dead head a bit early on, but then I get too busy with other stuff and let it go to seed. Shake the seeds about in situ, hang a few plants upside down in a paper bag somewhere dry for the rest to ripen to sow early next year.
My golden rule is: unless you want the seed, or fruit of any plant, for whatever reason, deadhead what ever you have time for. Remember dead heading is not just pulling petals off - cos the seeds/fruit will remain and use the plant's resources. Take back to a shoot that looks about to break; To wherever it would improve the shape of the plant; to a leaf joint. By firm dead heading your roses in particular can be kept in pretty good shape all round, providing you have the time, but if you are short of time the shears or hedge clippers can work well for many unfussy plants.
I dead head some of my plants (Cosmos,cornflower) but the candytuft I leave. I'm not really sure why,I just do?
Thinking about dead heading in general,is it possible to dead head an annual plant to death? Cosmos for instance,the plant wants to flower,get fertilised,produce seeds and disperse them. If you keep dead heading then you're interfering with that natural process. Will the plant keep pushing up new flowers until it just breaks down and cries 'I just can't take any more'? But then I suppose the first frosts would just kill it
My Candytuft that I dead headed (well probably more like cut back) to leaves as all the flowers were dead has now produced more flowers, smaller than the first flowers but still there, so quite impressed with that result Cosmos, I have deadheaded the ones that haven't been blown over by the wind
I dead headed cosmos by cutting back to nearest leaf joint and they have produced masses of flowers and still are. I read somewhere that with candytuft to cut back quite a bit, so I cut them down to about half, they are now flowering for the second time. Yes Orchid Lady, the second flowers on my candytuft were about half the size.
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I'll leave my Candytuft and Calendula at the end of summer as it will self seed and save me doing it next year, I'll also leave my Lavatera
I learnt that by accident this year 
I always deadhead my calendula until the last part of the summer and then let it go to seed and collect some. I don't know about candytuft, but I do know that allysum and lobelia are meant to benefit from cutting back to encourage a further growth in late summer and autumn.
And I remember a specialist grower of violas being interviewed at the Chelsea Flower show last year who said that if you cut your violas back by about a third in late July, early August, you will get a new flush of flowers at the end of summer.
I haven't tried this, especially as my violas are in beautiful full bloom at the moment, but mine were planted late this year. This is another plant that really benefits from regular deadheading, though.
It's not worth deadheading some flowers as they won't produce any more flowers. Poppies and sunflowers are two examples.
My Poached Egg plant looks really straggly so I think I'm going to cut that back today and see what happens, nothing to lose really because it's either that or just pull it up!
I'll give the Lobelia a trim too, thanks all
Well, Candytuft is only an annual that flowers its sock off and is just about done for now if you sowed seed early or last year. I dead head a bit early on, but then I get too busy with other stuff and let it go to seed. Shake the seeds about in situ, hang a few plants upside down in a paper bag somewhere dry for the rest to ripen to sow early next year.
My golden rule is: unless you want the seed, or fruit of any plant, for whatever reason, deadhead what ever you have time for. Remember dead heading is not just pulling petals off - cos the seeds/fruit will remain and use the plant's resources. Take back to a shoot that looks about to break; To wherever it would improve the shape of the plant; to a leaf joint. By firm dead heading your roses in particular can be kept in pretty good shape all round, providing you have the time, but if you are short of time the shears or hedge clippers can work well for many unfussy plants.
I dead head some of my plants (Cosmos,cornflower) but the candytuft I leave. I'm not really sure why,I just do?
Thinking about dead heading in general,is it possible to dead head an annual plant to death? Cosmos for instance,the plant wants to flower,get fertilised,produce seeds and disperse them. If you keep dead heading then you're interfering with that natural process. Will the plant keep pushing up new flowers until it just breaks down and cries 'I just can't take any more'?
But then I suppose the first frosts would just kill it 
My Candytuft that I dead headed (well probably more like cut back) to leaves as all the flowers were dead has now produced more flowers, smaller than the first flowers but still there, so quite impressed with that result
Cosmos, I have deadheaded the ones that haven't been blown over by the wind 
I dead headed cosmos by cutting back to nearest leaf joint and they have produced masses of flowers and still are. I read somewhere that with candytuft to cut back quite a bit, so I cut them down to about half, they are now flowering for the second time. Yes Orchid Lady, the second flowers on my candytuft were about half the size.