For the very first time, I recently bought 3 Iris x germanica 'Harvest of Memories' bulbs. My question is, when a flower dies, where or how far back do I de-flower or prune. Do I just pluck the flower and leave the mini stem or do I need to cut the flower back to the main stalk. |
The purpose of deadheading is to prevent the plant from forming seeds and to make it look nicer. As each bloom fades, you can remove it. Take the entire flower off including the bulge at its base where seeds would form. To be sure you remove the whole flower you could trim it with some or all of its own mini stem. When all of the blooms have faded, cut the entire tall flower stem off down near the ground. I hope this helps. |