People Kill Their Flowers Wrong

Pruning, the practice of cutting dead flowers off a plant, has long been considered a way to prolong the flowering of plants. It is based on the science that plants have a limited amount of energy and spend it on one of three resources: growth, flowering, or seed production. If you leave wilted flowers on a plant, the plant will send energy to turn that flower head into seeds. If you prefer to spend energy on more flowers, cut off the flower heads.

This theory isn’t obviously wrong, and it’s really fun to walk around the garden like the Queen of Hearts cutting off dead daisy heads. However, there are some nuances as to which plants benefit from being cut down, so some strategy regarding cutting down to get flowers will serve you well.

Not all flowers will continue to bloom

Many flowers—zinnias, daisies, echinaceas, roses, and more—can bloom in a season. Cutting off a flower will most likely result in more being produced later. However, many flowers are single-stemmed flowers, which means they only form one flower and then reshuffle this mortal spiral. If you cut this flower, you will commit an act of murder next to the flower.

Flowers such as tulips, daffodils, lilies, gladiolus, lupins, peonies, poppies and sunflowers fall into the “one and done” category. While some of these flowers are annuals, such as sunflowers and tulips, it’s worth noting that the perennials among them (like lilies and tulips) can suffer from year-to-year wilt. For some plants, stems and stalks provide essential nutrients for the next flowering year, and cutting them off will render the plant unable to feed itself.

How dead you are matters

That is, stop cutting flowers, leaving behind empty stems. What you really want to do is cut the flower stem down to the last set of nodes. The nodes are offshoots of the stem. This encourages the plant to produce new stems from these nodes, creating a healthier plant as each branch has to develop its own flower. By continuing to do this, you will end up with a much thicker, stronger plant with more flowers at the end. This is the working theory that farmers have always used.

Remember that your scissors are carriers of viruses and diseases.

When you cut and cut in the garden, remember that the pruners you use can carry diseases, fungi, and viruses from one plant to another. The best way to fix this is to always carry a spray bottle of white vinegar with you and spray secateurs between plants.