a plant has one goal in life.. procreation ... producing and maturing seed ..

it accomplishes this goal by attracting pollinators with pretty flowers ..

once a plant has gone to seed... and the seed matures... it is rare that you can deadhead it.. and it will flower again ..

i often wondered if the mature seed triggers hormonal changes .. but lost interest at that point ... lol ..

ken

yep, I do this frustrating dance every bloody year, hovering over the seed capsules (the first ones are always the fullest and fattest). Campanulas reward the ardent decapitator with a seemingly endless blooming (Sarastro can bloom itself to death!).....but the law of diminishing returns is in full effect by round 3 or so (teeny tiny little seed heads....and I suspect the viability too)). Sweet peas: at the moment, are truly stellar because I have not (yet) tired of picking and filling every household vessel but failure is on its way - in the post. A sniff of seed podding and the flowers slack off immediately. All that tender nurturing of tiny plantlets becomes a brutal chopping, tying,hacking, nipping mad race to contain unruly adolescent plants. The last chance, in my case, to maintain a smidgeon of control before the annual fruit picking torment approaches - a few weeks which inevitably shine a harsh light on all my worst traits.

delphiniums are extremely variable from seed so if you want the same plants you need to do cuttings next spring-youtube has a good video on it and its easy. despite what kennyboy says if you cut the stalks off at the ground and fertilize youll have flowers in sept-smaller but nice.

sorry almost forgot your question-seed pods do need to mature on the plant-the only way to get rebloom is to cut off the stalks just before the last flowers fade

Thanks all. I just can't cut them all down with all the hummers and bumble bees enjoying the last of the blooms. I still have seeds from years ago in the frig and will just use them next year.