A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members New from Illinois

Hi all, & thanks for the welcome W.W. I am in central IL. Pretty new to growing flowers. Dad always said "If you can't eat it--don't use the space." But now I have plenty of my own space.
My question tho'. Am I supposed to dead head Rhododendrons? Thanks

Hi Jodel and welcome to the forum!

Whether or not to deadhead Rhododendrons is a topic many experts disagree on, believe it or not! Some say it is a tedious waste of time and therefore one shouldn't bother doing it. Others, however, point out that deadheading prevents the plant from spending all it's energy on forming seed heads rather than on next years buds.

So I guess one question you need to answer is do you want seed heads or not? If you don't care about the seed heads and would prefer a greater density of buds, then you can deadhead freely.



Merme

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that your dad's comments regarding space reminded me of my son when he was very small.

He came to me one day after working in the garden saying "Mommy, flowers are nice but vegetables are better because somebody could eat them!"

Not that HE wanted to eat any, mind you; no, not that! But somebody could! He was happiest harvesting vegetables to give to our friends.


Merme

Hi, as you can see I too am from Illinois--where abouts do you hail from???

Thank you Merme for the info. I think I will try both ways on different plants to see what does best.
Thanks again
jodel

Hello Julie girl, I am just north of Springfield. But I have been to your little burg a few years ago. My town is even smaller.

Oh my goodness why would anyone come to Worden???

If you have been here, then you know there is like 1000 people here...

While my screen name is JunieGirl my actual name is Carol Jean.

Junie girl,
Had to come there on some business. Greenview is only 850 population.
How ironic that "you love frogs". I am so overwhelmed with frogs in my goldfish pond that it is difficult to sleep at night, plus the neighbors get upset with the noise. I went onto a site asking for help to reduce the population. WOW! Was I ever chastized. I don't want to harm them, I just want them to keep it down a bit. (population and sound) :)
I would really hate to have to get rid of the pond and falls. C_YA

Good luck with your frog problem.....