Hi, Dee. I See no one else has answered your question so I will give it a try. One of the things I have learned in the five years I have been doing it is that it is better to cut far enough down the plant so that you have long enough stems. In most cases the plant will then spread out and make many more stems...become a bush instead of a single stemmer. Cutting batchelors buttons is so tedious! But cutting a branch is much faster and prettier in a bouquet. Keep your plants fertilized and watered and they may astound you! Cutting this way is much like pinching it back would have been. IT does take a little time for the plant to recover but not as long as you might think when growing conditions are good. THe plant wants to set seed and if you continually remove the blossoms it will continue to try to make them....the great thing about annuals! If you have specific concerns with some of the plants name them and I will tell you what I think...I always have something to say, LOL.

Hi Digger Dee,
I welcome you. You'll find lots of info and experience here- not from me- but I'll root for you and your floral endeavors! I think it would be most helpful for you, and those answering, you if you said more specifically which flowers you're having questions about and what you want to know about them.

We must have gone to the same high school... LOL... math schmath.

Thanks so much guys, for your help with this question and your welcome and support in general!

The flowers I am wondering about in particular as far as leaving more than one flower per stem are larkspur, cosmos and bachelor's buttons. But even on the one-bloom stems, like zinnias and calendula and asters, I was concerned that since my plants are small, and basically one-stem wonders, that if I cut the stem at least 12 inches down from the top that the plant would not survive, never mind grow and continue to bloom. The plants just seem so scrawny and bare. As a matter of fact, on some of them I've just been cutting off the bloom a few inches down, not to use the bloom but as a deadheading procedure to get the plant to keep growing and fill out.

I guess some of these recommendations for cut flowers are made with the idea that one will huge amounts of them, and therefore one can afford to cut off half the plant for a single stem, lol. I'm starting small and don't have a lot of room at present, so perhaps I'm a little more cautious with my plants. My plants seem so small that even with 6x6 spacing the garden looks empty.

Well, this is the first year for me so it's all experimenting and learning. Thanks again for your help!

:)
Dee

About zinnias -- it has been my experience that many need an early pinch to create more side growth and longer individual stems. Sacrifice the earliest bud(s) as soon as they appear.

Another thing is the variety selection. For example, the Swizzler Ivory & Cream is a great color, but it is a shorter variety and will not throw long, straight stems.

Plant growth will vary from year to year depending on weather conditions. If there is ample, fairly consistent rain patterns, you'll tend to get taller plants with longer stems. The usual stresses (drought, excess heat or cold) will all have their effects. Maybe the 6x6" spacing is too restrictive. Close spacing will tend to make a single stem and little or no side branching. That's not a bad thing for some plants where you cut once and done; not so good for the long-season cutters.

Hmm, PAveggie, interesting - I was thinking I planted them too far apart, since everything looked so sparse. I never thought that perhaps I planted them too *closely*, and that that's why they are so scrawny. Certainly food for thought.

Well, this whole thing has certainly been a lesson so far- and probably will continue to be so throughout the season. I'm realizing I need more of what I sell, more sun, more beds, etc. I had almost thought of foregoing the flowers and just doing veggies, but our market has two quite large vegetable growers, as well as a fairly large organic farm, so my small offering wouldn't make much of a dent - plus the bigger vendors have better spots, lol! The customers hit them first! So I think I will trudge along with my plans for flowers and see how it goes.

Thanks so much for all your help. I'm sure you will all be hearing from me again. :) In the meantime, there's lots of good reading and a wealth of info here on this forum, so that will keep me busy when I'm not in the garden.

Thanks again!
:)
Dee