Similar question about my purple coneflowers. I don't have to stake them but they are so tall for the bed they're in... thanks!

No. Unless you prefer to have no blooms.

The coneflowers might produce some smaller blooms later in the season if cut back, but basically, no...you need to place them where the height works and/or use shorter cultivars if you can't stand it.

Thanks for the prompt response. The funny thing about the coneflowers is that they placed themselves in the bed -- and proliferated madly. I never interfere with Nature's correction of my mistakes in plant placement, so I'll just continue to enjoy the coneflowers even if they are twice as tall as anything else in the bed :)

Ah...well it's always nice to appreciate what Nature gives you. I had purple coneflowers go amuck exactly once...where they were coming up in the lawn, and everywhere. Every year after that no seed matured (finches).

On the peony issue... - there may well be some side buds but they are usually close to the main terminal buds, so cutting the stems down would not do much to make a shorter, bushier plant, but would likely seriously reduce the number of blooms. If the peony is well supported, the stems can arch downward which reduces any ‘leggy’ effect in my experience. It’s not something I’ve ever been bothered about.

I also do this with other plants such as Asters, Coreopsis, and Rudbeckia. Actually, it will work with just about any plant. When the central growing stem is cut off it forces the plant to produce multiple stems at the next lower leaf node. The trick is in the timing. It has to be done very early, when the plant is only about 6" tall and not when it is getting ready to bud. There are more flowers (because there are more stems) and they flower just a little later (usually about a week or so). I have used this method to prolong my Asters blooming time by as much as 3 weeks. I cut the plant back in three stages - 1/3 (of the plant) when it is about 6" tall, then another 1/3 (different part of the plant and not another cut to the same part) when it is about 9" tall, and the last 1/3 of the plant when it is about 12" tall. I get way more blooms, the plant is shorter and blooms for up to 3 weeks longer.

If you are concerned about trying this then I suggest you just "bite the bullet" and give it a go. Select just one plant if you are nervous and try it. The worst that can happen is that it won't flower and you will have to wait until next year for it to bloom again. The best that can happen is that it will work great and you will start doing it on other plants.

And not only does it work with perennials - it also works great for annuals!!

Compare these techniques with 'the Chelsea chop.' https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=59I

Bruce, while coneflowers may respond to this, I don't think it's going be as easy and as likely as it is for things that branch much easier. This is from experience with coneflowers terminal being damaged. Generally, if reblooming occurs, it will be much later and smaller flowers.

Peonies will not respond this way, the buds are made before they emerge from the ground.

Appreciate the discussion, everyone -- I'm going to experiment with cutting back the coneflowers (since there are so many of them anyway) but I'll continue to stake and delight in my venerable old peony without cutting back... decided that the 5 or 6 gigantic flowers [seriously, each one is a bouquet by itself] I still get, plus the stunning yellow fall foliage, have been this plant's natural gifts for 35 years -- with virtually no interference from me. It's rewarding enough, right? :)

I do all my peony stuff (chopping back, moving, dividing, sowing, transplanting) in autumn...then am quite strict with myself and my tendency to meddle until the first frosts of winter turn the foliage and stems black.

After blooming, I deadhead my peonies and prune the foliage into a nice bush shape; I've never noticed that any new foliage emerges, and most certainly more flowers don't emerge. So, if you do this, you'll just be sacrificing the blooms and likely end up with a stubby plant. Disbudding is entirely different than the "Chelsea chop" method or cutting back/pinching to induce more blooms.

Thanks mxk3 - your distinction is entirely correct. Disbudding is cutting the main bud off and leaving the other smaller buds to mature. This is done AFTER the buds have appeared and have started to get some size to them. The cutting back/pinching off of stems (of which the "Chelsea Chop" is just one method) occurs very early in the plants life and well BEFORE there are any buds formed. This gives the plant time to grow new stems before the buds begin to appear. This distinction is crucial to understand.

Except in most peonies the new stems seldom have flower buds and if they do the buds produce single petal flowers. Which is nice if you are wanting to hybridize but not if you want nice full flowers.

I guess from maifleur01's comment that I need to clarify my information further. To my knowledge, disbudding only applies to Peonies. You can not use cutting back or pinching off with them. With other plants, both perennials and annuals, you use cutting back and pinching off. I suppose there may be some other perennials and annuals where disbudding may be appropriate but I haven't used it and don't know of any. Does anyone else know of other perennials and annuals where disbudding is used?

Mmm, I don't do disbudding (rather than deadheading) because I am not enamoured of large exhibition blooms (chrysanths, dahlias)...but I routinely disbud first year strawberry runners, because I prefer root growth at the expense of flowers...and back when I was still foolish enough to (attempt to) grow meconopsis, I disbudded the first year blooms of m.grandis and m.baileyii because they would almost certainly go into some monocarpic state if seedheads were allowed to form and die off ( although some of the sterile hybrids such as 'Lingholm were perfectly OK to be left alone).

take some string.. or ribbon.. or whatever ... and just cut a couple as you wish.. and then tie the yarn on them.. and observe what happens ...

then either repeat next spring .. or dont do it because it didnt work ...

i recall almost all my experiments ... as compared to random stuff i read online.. which come next spring ... i have to look up again ... lol ..

generally speaking.. i dont think it will work .. and i was surprised to see it did work for someone above.. perhaps he has different kinds of peony than i do .. or he just knows more than i do .. and good for him.. if he does ...

and no.. i dont know what peony i have ... all i know.. is they have been in the family for 50 or 60 years ... oh.. i know.. i have the pink.. the red.. and the white ones ... lol ...

ken

Hey Ken, I wish I had used your string idea when I tried disbudding my Peonies for the first time. I thought they were all the same (came with the house when I bought it) and so cut the main bud off all of them. It took me until the third year (yes you read that right 3 years!) to work out that they weren't the same. The red one (which I didn't know was red until the third year) only gets one bud! I'm sure glad I worked it out or I may never have known I had such a beautiful Peony. It also blooms at least 3 weeks ahead of the pink ones.

Here are some more photographs of the pink ones.

Jut speculation based off experience with the species. I'd say they wouldn't react well. Depending on when they were cut, might not even bloom/rebloom. The bloom size seems to be regulated at a genetic level which mainly contributes to the lean, not really another way around it. I'd speculate that burring em deeper could help to some degree, but meh, there's a lot of variables there too. they need bigger stalks to support those big blooms.

Those are delightful pix, and I love the discussion ('tho I suspect you all are rather advanced and I'm more Peonies 101 :) My dear friend had peonies in her Connecticut garden, small single blossoms but very fragrant, so I [newbie as I was 36 years ago] went to the nursery here and said "Peonies please"... and that's how this darling with the half dozen 5" blossoms became my peony. Didn't look like Helen's plant but had the same bewitching fragrance. Every year I would put one perfect peony in a bud vase on my daughter's bedside table, hoping that ever after that scent would evoke joy... and so it has, actually, for all of us :)

35+ years, it may do well with some cutting back during the growing season or even dividing it down at the roots (usually before winter but can be done veeery early in spring before when you can tell where the eyes are but there is not yet much growth). Create children plants and grandchildren plants and have more of them all over your property and your kids' properties, etc

While I love the idea of having children and grandchildren peonies, I don't think it's in the cards for this loved plant :) I had 3 of them originally, but as the garden grew -- and the shade did too -- the other 2 started lagging. I tried to transplant them [very carefully because I read that peonies resented being moved] and wound up losing both... so I'm very reluctant to do anything to my survivor (the one that still gets decent sun). I'm not all that adventurous when it comes to my heart plants...