I wouldn't deadhead.

Sorry to directly disagree MG - yes, deadhead as soon as the flowers fade -yes, there'll be leaf growth at the tip, but if you leave them, you end up with a bare bit of stem where the flower was and the leaves grow on from the tip, so get 'em off now, cutting just above the leaves BEFORE the flower.

That's okay Bamboo, I got this one wrong!

Can I ask a further question Bamboo - is this what should generally be done to all flowers (apart from fruit trees veggies that flower etc !) ?

Kind Rgds

Depends whether you want the seeds or not Giroffle. B and I tend not to others religiously deadhead everything. In part depends on how you want your garden to look. We do dead head the likes of Mecanopsis cambrica which is a lovely 'weed' in our garden.

No - there's no general rule regarding this, Giroffle, depends on the plant concerned. Callistemon is unusual in its habit of putting out new leaves at the tip of the flowers before they're finished, so requires different treatment. The only general rule I can give, and there are exceptions to this, is regarding shrubs - if it flowers before June, prune immediately after flowering. On the other hand, lots of annual flowers such as Cosmos and sweet peas must be rigorously deadheaded or they stop flowering, having achieved their life objective of reproduction by forming seed.

Thank you both...however..there's always another question with me ;-)

Re: DeadHeading Cosmos & Sweet Pea

How exactly do I do both of these ?

The Cosmos are on their second bloom and I have done none of this because I was unsure or what to do and how to do it - do I just take the whole flower tip off at the stem or what ?

Sweet Pea - I think you know where I am with these so I won't need to worry just yet - but how would you deadhead these

Kind Rgds

Take off the stem the flowers are hanging from in the case of sweet pea - and nip out the stems with spent flowers attached on the Cosmos.

Ok - thanks Bamboo