Written by: Di Graski, Colorado Master Gardener, 2024

Cast your mind back to spring and those first glimpses of color we were all so glad to see in March and April: forsythia, quince, lilac, clematis, irises. “Yes,” the blossoms told us, “we made it through another winter!”

What can we gardeners do now, at the height of Summer, to ensure that our Future Selves have an abundance of blossoms to enjoy in Spring 2026? A few deadheading and pruning tasks – and also some “hands off” rules – can help.

First, a note about natives. Chokecherry and currants are among our earliest bloomers, and now, in Summer, they are “hands off,” do nothing! Our amazing native flowering shrubs are forming fruits that birds and other wildlife will need when Ol’ Man Winter rolls back into town. If you feel an urge to prune these “woodies,” make a note in your 2026 calendar to do so in January or February.

Next, a bit of jargon. “Deadheading” means removing spent blossoms. Using scissors or pruners (depending on the stem size), gardeners cut off the seed pod that remains after a flower’s petals have fallen. Folks are likely most familiar with deadheading annuals (think marigolds and zinnias) to encourage those plants to create more blooms.

“Pruning” means removing branches of woody plants. Using pruners or loppers (depending on the branch size), gardeners prune woody perennials to remove damaged, diseased, or dead branches; to achieve a desired shape; and to encourage new growth the following season.

Now let’s look at some best practices for several of our favorite early bloomers.

Forsythia and Flowering Quince

Oh, that brilliant yellow of forsythia blossoms! Oh, the many colors of quince blossoms! What’s happening right now is forsythia and quince shrubs are forming next spring’s blossoms, so they are “hands off,” do nothing! If gardeners were to prune their forsythia or quince in late summer, they would risk removing next year’s buds. The best time to prune forsythia and quince is immediately after they finish blooming, so make a note in your May 2026 calendar.

Lilacs

Oh, the gorgeous purples and heavenly aromas of blooming lilac! What those lilac blooms left behind are seed pods. Deadheading your lilac now will benefit the shrub by “rerouting” its energy from seed production to foliage production. Grab your clean, sharp hand pruners and clip off all the seed pods.

Crocuses, Tulips, and Irises

Oh, those brave bulbs and tubers who bloom even through our late spring snowstorms!

The leaves of bulbs like crocuses, daffodils, and tulips should be allowed to turn completely brown and lifeless before removing any plant material. Basically, if you give the spent bloom stalk a gentle tug and it comes easily out of the soil, it is okay to remove it. Otherwise, you risk robbing the bulb of the chance to make and store the energy it will need next spring.

Tubers like irises should be deadheaded. Once the bloom stalk is dry and brown, use clean, sharp scissors or hand pruners to clip it as close to the foliage as you can without injuring the leaf.

Clematis

Ah, the gob-smacking beauty of clematis blossoms! Clematis can be a bit tricky, because there are distinct classes, each with their own rules.

If your clematis blossomed early – late April, into May – then it is probably one of the varieties of clematis that blooms on old growth. You should deadhead the seed pods now, and you can also prune away any vines that failed to leaf out, giving the viable vines more room, sun, and air.

If your clematis has blossoms now, or appears to be forming buds now, then it is probably one of the varieties that blossoms on new growth, meaning that the plant sends up new vines in the spring and then sets buds on those new vines. After these later-blooming clematis have gone completely dormant in the autumn, the best technique is to prune them quite zealously, removing one third or even one half of the height of the vines.

Here’s to a spring 2026 as vibrant and beautiful as 2025!

More to Explore:

“Pruning Flowering Shrubs,” Colorado State University Extension, Garden Note 616: https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/616.pdf

“What Is the Best Way to Deadhead Perennials?,” University of New Hampshire Extension: https://extension.unh.edu/blog/2019/07/what-best-way-deadhead-perennials

Quince: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chaenomeles/common-name/flowering-quince/, North Carolina State Extension

Clematis: https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2019/05/May-11-2019-Pruning-Clematis.pdf, Colorado State University Extension