I agree about Mr. Lincoln. My first plant since High School was a Mr. Lincoln that my SO let me plant alongside her driveway ... must have been in the mid-1980s.
I guess I water and fertilize all around it, more than most of my beds, to indulge vegetables and cutflowers, so it gets everything it could desire. Clearly, this plant does not mind being spoiled! Most likely, the very-deeply amended / replaced soil and deep aeration/drainage are conducive to growth.
I think I'll hold off on the heavy stem pruning until the current wave of blooming has subsided a little. Then go to town on it!
Maybe I'll bundle all the cut branches and plunge them into soil somewhere, or an oft-watered compost heap, just to see if branch cuttings ever root.
