The best time of year for deadheading will vary based on the coneflower blooming season where you live. That said, you should plan to start deadheading about 2 weeks after the first blooms appear and continue throughout the blooming season.
Deadheading also reduces the number of seeds falling to the ground, which can help keep your coneflowers from claiming more garden territory.
Each year you leave the coneflowers alone, their area will grow larger. After 3 to 4 years, you may be ready to divide your coneflower plants and replant some of them elsewhere. Finches and many other types of birds love coneflower seeds, so don’t deadhead if you want lots of feathered friends to visit your garden!
Coneflowers will rebloom in the spring whether or not you cut away the dead plant material.
You may decide that pruning in the fall makes your garden look better, and it might also reduce the number of seeds that make it to the ground (and thus limit coneflower expansion). [3] X Research source Or, if you’d like to provide your local birds with some yummy seeds before winter comes, you can wait until the next spring (before any signs of life return to the plant) to chop it down. [4] X Research source
If you do this pruning technique too early—before any buds have appeared—it will make little or no impact on extending the blooming season of your coneflowers. If you do it too late—once numerous buds have appeared—you’ll simply be chopping off flowers shortly before they open up. Consult other local gardeners and/or farmers to see when they prune their coneflowers.
Cut each main stem just above the lateral stem to help produce a flower bud faster. If you want to be a bit more aggressive in your attempt to extend your blooming season, divide the coneflower stems into 3 sections, then prune down 1 section by a third and another in half.
In this case, deadheading helps direct energy toward flower production in the stems you pruned down.
For example, coneflowers will bloom for about 1 month in many locales. Therefore, this pruning process can potentially extend the blooming season from 1 to 2 months. Care for a blooming coneflower by watering it well and spraying for insects.
