The vibrant colors of zinnia flowers are a highlight in any garden. However, when these blooms start to fade and lose their color—or even turn brown—it’s easy to start panicking. Should you cut the blooms? Or should you leave them be?

Ultimately, the best solution is to snip the spent, faded flowers—a process known as deadheading. This will encourage the plant to refocus its energy on producing new blooms, so your garden will be awash in color again in no time. Here’s how you should do it, according to gardening experts.

Why Should You Cut Zinnias?

“Deadheading your fading or spent zinnia flowers will help the plant produce even more blooms, and keep the plant looking healthy and vibrant,” says Steven Engel, regional account manager at PanAmerican Seed. 

There are other benefits to deadheading as well. It also lightens the flower canopy, so the blooms are less likely to fall over in the rain or wind, says Lisa Mason Ziegler, author of The Cut Flower Handbook.

Removing older blooms can even increase airflow, minimizing the risk of disease and pests. “[It] decreases the chance for Botrytis, an airborne fungus that lives on dead organic material and can make a plant rot,” adds Engel.

How to Do It

Ready to get started? Here’s how to properly deadhead your zinnias so they come back more vibrant than ever.

Look for Spent Flowers

It’s time to deadhead once a flower begins to fade, or you notice the edges of the petals start to turn brown.

“As the blooms age, they fade in color and develop seed; they become heavier and often hang lower on the plant from the weight,” says Ziegler. Many older flowers will also start to develop spots or nibble bites from insects. “The centers of the flowers tend to age first and begin to look dirty,” she adds.

Know Where to Snip

The place you snip the bloom will determine where the next bud emerges. The way you deadhead zinnias changes depending on whether they’re for cut flowers or to enjoy in your garden.

For landscape planting: “Make the cut above two leaves to generate new sprouts,” says Ziegler. For a cut flower garden: “Make the cuts deeper on the plant to generate more long, straight stems.”

Remove Spent Blooms

Snip zinnias with garden shears or scissors for a clean cut, or pinch them off with your fingers. If you’re cutting zinnias for their fresh flowers, then Engel suggests only using scissors to prune them. 

When to Deadhead

Deadheading zinnias is an ongoing task. “It begins as soon as the first blooms age out and continues through the season,” says Ziegler. “Doing it on a regular basis, like a Saturday morning job, keeps the plant in its best condition.”

One of the brightest stars of the summer garden, zinnia flowers offer show-stopping beauty in a rainbow of vibrant colors. While zinnias are low-maintenance annuals that take care of themselves for the most part, deadheading is essential to keep this plant prolific. Deadheading the spent blooms will keep the zinnias producing a steady succession of flowers all season long. Ahead, flower farmers explain how and when to deadhead zinnias for a flush of colorful blooms from summer to the first frost.

When to Deadhead Zinnias

When it comes to zinnias, deadheading isn’t just a one-and-done task. “Deadhead zinnias throughout the season by regularly removing individual spent flowers,” says Julia Keel of Full Keel Farm. Continually inspect your zinnias throughout the growing season and deadhead when you see brown or faded flowers. 

That said, you can also cut zinnias before the blooms have faded. “On our farm, since we grow for cut flowers, we go through all zinnia beds and cut all mature blooms every three days,” says Jennifer Joray of Eastern River Farm. “This means that all the blooms on the plants are fresh and never need deadheading.” She notes that waiting longer is fine, but the more frequently you cut mature blooms, the faster fresh new blooms will appear.

Benefits of Deadheading Zinnias

Deadheading zinnias helps you enjoy the blooms for longer. “The primary reason to deadhead zinnias is to prevent them from going to seed so that they continue to produce flowers for as long as possible,” says Brenna Estrada of Three Brothers Blooms. The life cycle of an annual flower includes flowering, getting pollinated, setting seed, and dying.

Joray says that the plant will continue to produce blooms throughout the season in hopes of pollination, and deadheading tells the zinnia plant to produce another flower to complete its life cycle. “We benefit from more color and fresh blooms all season long,” she says. “Cut more, get more.”

How to Deadhead Zinnias

Follow these steps to ensure successful deadheading of your zinnia blossoms.

1. Identify a Spent Bloom

When the color intensity of a particular bloom is waning or turning brown around the edges, it’s time to deadhead. “Look for flowers that have faded in color, have shriveled or browned petals, or have a central cone that has started to discolor,” says Keel. “Beyond improving the overall appearance of the planting, deadheading zinnias will help maintain a longer season of continuous blooms by encouraging the plant to put energy into flower production rather than seed production.”

2. Locate Where to Cut

Choose where you cut your flowers carefully. “When deadheading zinnias, rather than just removing the spent flower, cut the stem farther down on the plant above a set of leaf nodes,” says Joray. “This will promote more growth from the base of the plant and produce more long-stemmed blooms.” Zinnias typically branch from where the stem is cut, allowing the plant to produce even more flowers, Estrada adds.

3. Snip or Pull the Bloom Off

Cut zinnias with clean, sanitized garden scissors or pruners to prevent the spread of disease between plants. Joray also suggests an alternative method: “One tip for success in deadheading zinnias is to use gloved fingers and gently ‘peel’ off the flower from its base.” She recommends gloves. “You can use bare hands, but your fingers will turn green, and it is difficult to get the plant sap off with soap.”