I'm takin agin my 2yr old Bowles Mauve. Ive a good mind to dig them up😠 Before I decide. if I trim off all of the flowers, will it bloom again this year?
I need to cut them back because I am feeling murderous thoughts👺. Cuttings are easy. That's my problem. They took and I planted them out.😒 I like the idea of treating it as an annual. Thank you @ Lyn & @Silver surfer You have sealed their deserved death warrants. I have cuttings that have taken. Next year's annuals😊
You don’t really need to cut the spent flowers off as the plant is sterile so won’t sap the plants strength producing seeds.
It is to make it look tidy. No other reason. The flowering stalks get longer and longer till there is just one flower on the top. That then dies. I cannot see the point of leaving a long dead flower stalk in the plant. Doing this just keeps it flowering and flowering.
I never cut the leaves. I wait until there is a very long flower stalk with no more purple flowers on it. Then I cut that stem back to the bottom of the dead stem. The plant keeps getting bigger and it produces masses more flowering stems. I do this in year one and year 2. Then bin them.
Pics below are from Wales ...October. It actually takes a while to deadhead them ...but I find it very therapeutic and VERY worth while. You can end up removing 100's from just one plant.
My shears are pretty sharp😉. Ive got a large bay thats covered in new leaves, hours of therapeutic pruning available. I only pruned the b****r last month!
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But after 2 years I would remove it this autumn and put a new one in next year.
I like the idea of treating it as an annual. Thank you @ Lyn & @Silver surfer You have sealed their deserved death warrants. I have cuttings that have taken. Next year's annuals😊
The flowering stalks get longer and longer till there is just one flower on the top.
That then dies.
I cannot see the point of leaving a long dead flower stalk in the plant.
Doing this just keeps it flowering and flowering.
I never cut the leaves.
I wait until there is a very long flower stalk with no more purple flowers on it.
Then I cut that stem back to the bottom of the dead stem.
The plant keeps getting bigger and it produces masses more flowering stems.
I do this in year one and year 2. Then bin them.
Give it a try.
It actually takes a while to deadhead them ...but I find it very therapeutic and VERY worth while.
You can end up removing 100's from just one plant.