Just cut down as far as possible next to the leaves. You can cut the blooms as soon as they show signs of drying out unless you are going to harvest seeds.

Ahh, thank you.

Better to pull it. Grab the base of the plant and yank the flower stem out. If it doesn't pull out with moderate force wait and try again in a week or two.

This post was edited by gosalsk on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 10:48