Why You Should Reconsider Growing Phacelia In Your Garden - House Digest

If you're not concerned about the invasive tendencies of phacelia and you're interested in reaping its beneficial properties, there are ways to manage it as a cover crop or ornamental flower in your garden without posing too much risk to other neighboring plants. In order to do so, you must understand its blooming period and be ready to jump into action once the time is right. Since phacelia is a self-seeding flowering plant, if left untouched, it will drop seeds after it flowers, and those seeds will allow it to return stronger next season. To disrupt this cycle, you simply need to prevent the seeds from reaching the ground.

Depending on your climate, phacelia blooms throughout the spring and summer. Once you notice the color fading from the flowers, it's go time. Deadhead all the spent flowers by using a clean pair of garden shears and trimming it down to the base of the flower stalk. The timing here is key. If you wait too long after the blooms have faded, you'll allow the plant to develop its seed heads, which can easily fall to the ground, brush up against animals, or blow through the wind. By deadheading immediately after the blooms have faded, you'll prevent any seeds from forming and will end the life cycle of this plant. This process may encourage the plant to flower again, so be on the lookout for additional blooms to deadhead.