Article: Once a flower on this plant loses its colorful lustre and the petals begin to dry and wilt, the flower will quickly shrivel up and die. At this point, you can use pruning shears to cut off the spent flower and its stem (called “deadheading”).  Trace down the spent flower’s stem until you reach the next lateral stem with a blooming flower or bud on it. Cut the dead flower’s stem just above this joint. 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. Once a flower fades, the coneflower plant expends energy producing seeds that will eventually fall from the spent flower and sprout new coneflowers in the same area. Deadheading reduces the energy spent on seed production, which may result in more blooms that are longer-lasting and more vibrant.  Deadheading also greatly reduces the number of seeds that fall to the ground, which can help you keep your coneflowers from claiming more garden territory. Many gardeners also believe that deadheading simply makes the plant look prettier as well. If you want the coneflower section of your garden to spread naturally, skip deadheading and let the seeds fall where they may. Each year, the area covered by coneflowers will grow a bit larger.  In fact, after 3-4 years, you may be ready to divide up your intertwined 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!
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Cut fading flowers and their stems down to the next lateral flower or bud. Deadhead to encourage more blooms or to limit self-seeding. Don’t deadhead if you want to encourage more coneflowers or invite birds.