how to get the best return of flowers

After the initial bloom has faded how far do you cut back to get another cycle going? Or is one big round of blooms it for the season. I see tiny little buds about halfway up the stalk on some of them and cut them to that point.But I didn't see any buds on others. Should I cut the flower stalks all the way to the ground? thanks

I have seen some reblooming slowly. I do deadhead mine, but only the rattiest looking flowers. I'm not sure how far to really cut them back - I go back 2 or 3 sets of leaves.

I was wanting to know the answer to that also.

~Lucy

Me three.

xxx, C

I do the same as Al. Cut back the crummiest blooms to just above a leaf. Sometime one set or more, just so you don't have a beheaded stem sticking out. Most of the new ones branch quite a bit more on their own I have noticed and I'm not sure deadheading will increase this or not. I do it more for cosmetic reasons.

Hmmmm. I want to rush out and see if any of mine are "ratty".

xx, Carrie

I have the same question every year! I too see the buds lower down and will cut them back to just above that but then others are just a tall spindly stalk with no other leaves or blooms. ?

I deadhead until I'm ready to collect seeds but it's really hard for me to cut them down to nothing. I'd rather look at a brown coneflower than none!

Last year was my first year growing coneflowers. I let them stay all winter. I figured that there was probably some seeds there for the birds, so I didn't cut them down. Now, I'm thinking that this year, I will probably put some addtitional compost or alfalfa down on the garden to put it to sleep for the year. At that time, I may just cut them down all the way.

Until then, I am just cutting a couple of inches below the coneflower that I need to discard. Eventually, I will get some kind of system down.

LOL

xx, C

How do you collect seeds? I've never done that. I would love to get some of my kim's mophead.