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Anthemis punctata - do I cut it back?

CamelliadCamelliad Posts: 402
in Plants
It has thrived in my dry beds and grown into enormous clumps of silvery green - it's lovely and fresh looking. It has spread but not in the way I thought it would - a single plant sends out very long stems to cover a fairly large area in a clump. So I'm not sure what to do now in the autumn and can't really find any definitive advice. Should I cut it right back? Or leave it?

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They just die back over winter as they become dormant. The only thing you would do is deadhead. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CamelliadCamelliad Posts: 402
    Thank you @Fairygirl .  Yes am deadheading and it's still flowering. So does it die back in the same way as, for example, a dicentra dies back? So I just cut it back when it's yellow and withered?
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    It's just a perennial, so will die back in the same way as any other perennial  :)
    In very mild areas, it may stay green till quite late in the year, and start into growth earlier, but the growth will disappear over winter.
    You can certainly remove any old, dead bits of stem for the compost bin if you wish, once the plant has finished doing it's thing :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • CamelliadCamelliad Posts: 402
    Super, thank you @Fairygirl. In that case I might take some cuttings.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Fairygirl said:
    It's just a perennial, so will die back in the same way as any other perennial  :)
    In very mild areas, it may stay green till quite late in the year, and start into growth earlier, but the growth will disappear over winter.
    You can certainly remove any old, dead bits of stem for the compost bin if you wish, once the plant has finished doing it's thing :)
    I beg to differ; mine never dies back, it stays green and lovely all year round.  More like a mini-shrub. I cut it back to about half its size in late summer (did it last week), and poke loads of cuttings into yogurt pots of soil.  Usually with about 95% success.  It's a hard-working, undemanding little plant which I think deserves to be better known.  All it asks is sunshine.
  • CamelliadCamelliad Posts: 402
    Thank you @josusa47 and in fact I think it was on your recommendation that I ended up getting it!! It has thrived and I love the look of it. It's still flowering so I might leave it for a little longer and then cut some of it back. I want some cuttings in any event. Fingers crossed mine does the same as yours and stays green!!
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Maybe we should start a fan club.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That's why I said 'in very mild areas'  :)
    Short lived perennial here, so cuttings would always be done as back up. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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