I've purchased a 2 gallon ES Original and am not sure whether to prune off the old blooms. I've read the posts on this forum and found different answers. I picked through the assortment packed tightly in the store display to find a well branched plant in the back middle. So many of them had twisted stems and lacked leaves in center. Some had dried up looking stems as well as blooms with no new buds present, so I avoided those. I assume the darker parts on leaves is due to drought in the rootbound container held at the retail store. I will remove the torn leaves.

I plan to layer some of the lower branches to root. Our 1st frost is mid October and mild, rainy weather in 40s usually all winter with an annual total of 60-80 inches a year. We have occasional cold snaps with winter low of 13 degrees. Should I prune off the old blooms?

side view

view of base with branching and damaged leaf

top view