Remove The Flower Stems at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Propagation and growing: sow seed in late spring, in well-drained, rich soil. If seed is not required, remove the flower stems as they appear. Self-sown seedlings will grow freely if the plants are allowed to flower; if not, propagate them by dividing the parent plants approximately every three years or so. The seeds are ready to harvest when they have turned a gray-green color and have hardened. Cut off the whole flower head and dry slowly indoors.

Take a bucket of tepid, not cold, water into the garden and plunge the cut stems directly into it. (Cold water to a flower has the same effect as a cold Shower to a gardener: Shock!) Use a sharp Knife or scissors to cut the stems, and take more length than you think you might need to ensure plenty of stem for flower arranging. When cutting, never pull at the stem. This can bruise and damage cell walls, restricting the free movement of water. Cut flowers continue living and need all the water the stems can take in.

Mop-head hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) are superb garden shrubs which flower from mid-summer to fall. Leave the flower stems and old flower heads in place until late winter or early spring, then cut out all shoots that produced flowers during the previous year This radically thins out the shrub, allows li] and air to enter and encourages the developmerr fresh shoots which will bear flowers later in the year