I just bought and planted a whole bunch of "PowWow" and "White Swan" coneflowers end of September. They look pretty happy with nice blooms. Now I'm reading online that you should not let the flowers bloom the first year so that the roots develop and they make it through the winter. But the blooms were already all there when I bought them. Should I quickly cut off all the blooms and buds on my plants? Or wait till they die off naturally (which I assume should happen soon). I'm not sure if this late in the year any of the energy would go into making roots anyway. I am in Virginia and it is just starting to get cold with nights down below 40 degrees. It would be sad if they died their first winter!
I just bought and planted a whole bunch of "PowWow" and "White Swan" coneflowers end of September. They look pretty happy with nice blooms. Now I'm reading online that you should not let the flowers bloom the first year so that the roots develop and they make it through the winter. But the blooms were already all there when I bought them. Should I quickly cut off all the blooms and buds on my plants? Or wait till they die off naturally (which I assume should happen soon). I'm not sure if this late in the year any of the energy would go into making roots anyway. I am in Virginia and it is just starting to get cold with nights down below 40 degrees. It would be sad if they died their first winter!