Deadheading Rhododendrons

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Spectacular - and then sort of scary. As beautiful as rhododendrons look in bloom, their spent flowers leave a lot to be desired in the pretty department. First they fade and flop over; then they dry up like browned blobs of tissue paper, and finally your faced with super-sized spidery stamens.

So, snap them off or carefully twist off the dead flowerheads between your fingers to keep from damaging the new buds you see starting to emerge. Deadheading keeps your rhododendron from making seeds, so it stores that energy to make bigger, better flowers next year.

Do you have to deadhead? No, but, if you have rhododendrons that are close to your house where you can reach them easily -- and everyone can see them -- why not walk around and remove the finished flowers. They're a little sticky, but that washes right off your hands and your rhododendron will look a lot less messy -- and scary -- for the rest of the summer.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio