Last chance to avoid the dreaded flopping of perennials
June 29th, 2008 
by Susan Harris
It’s a looong wait every year before we can finally feast our eyes on our prized late-season perennials and a real bummer to find them lying on the ground face down instead of standing at attention where we can see them. And the alternative of staking them up produces a result that just barely looks better because it spoils their natural form. But if we act fast - this week - we can avoid both results by simply hacking them back. The details are right here.
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June 30th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Susan,
Thanks for the reminder…once more ought to do it with these tall
aster.
Gail
July 1st, 2008 at 4:43 am
I, too, second the thanks for the reminder. I always seem to forget to cut back until it is too late. The only ones I remember to cut back are the mums. You’d think doing that would jar my memory to do the others, but it doesn’t.
Jan
Always Growing
July 1st, 2008 at 8:31 am
I just hacked back all my bachelors buttons. The looked terrible and deadheading wasn’t an option there were so many. I hope I did the right thing!
Robin at Bumblebee
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
thanks for the reminder. My sedums already have flower buds but they are flopping and there is a wide hole in the middle. If I hack them back now will I lose the flowers for this season or will they rebud and flower later? Thanks for a great blog.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
What a wonderful resource your blog and website are. And I LOVE The Well-Tended Perennial Garden (even if she doesn’t love daylilies)–I’m not sure my perennials are that well tended, but her advice is great–I always hack the front plants in my monarda clumps so they help stake the taller ones in the back and sustain the bloom for a few weeks longer. My catmint flops, but I think the soil is too rich–but I digress once again. I’m so glad I found you . . .