The sun bride, also known as Helenium, presents itself richly adorned with her blossom suns. However, if you neglect pruning, you have to reckon with a shortened flowering time - even in a sunny location. But there are other reasons why cutting makes sense.

The sun bride is also good as a cut flower in the vase

Prune to extend flowering time

From July to September the flowering period of the sun bride can last. Gardeners ostensibly use scissors to prolong the flowering period. Withered flowers should be cut off regularly. The first withered specimens can usually be seen at the end of July. If they are removed, new flower buds will quickly form.

Cut to maintain a neat look

Furthermore, a cut is appropriate to keep the sun bride visually appealing. Their growth becomes sprawling and overloaded over time. It is therefore important to take proper care of:

  • Pinch shoots in the bud (maximum 2 times)
  • remove excess shoots
  • cut away old leaves
  • Cut off old inflorescences to prevent seed formation

Here's to the new season - cut back beforehand

A radical pruning should be done at the end of the old season or at the beginning of the new season. Impatient people can cut back Helenium in the fall. But cutting back in spring between the end of February and the beginning of March is better. All stems are cut back to just above the ground.

Use clippings - for the vase and for propagation

The clippings from cutting the sun bride do not always have to end up in the compost. You can use the freshly blossomed flowers as cut flowers for the vase. Cut off the stems early in the morning. The flowers last about 1 week in the vase.

In addition, you can leave the last flowers in late summer to get seeds later. As soon as the infructescences have matured, you can cut them off. At home you can dry them and pick out the seeds.

Basic shoots that occur during radical pruning can be used to propagate cuttings. The cuttings are later planted at a distance of 30 cm from each other and watered well.

tips

After spring pruning, you can divide and transplant the sun bride if desired (recommended every 3 years).

Category:

Herbs