If the cockade flower (lat. Gallardia) likes its location, with good care it will develop into magnificent perennials whose flowers shine through the entire garden. As with all plants, correct pruning is important for Gallardia to ensure long-lasting abundance of flowers.
How should you cut the cockade flower correctly?
To cut the cockade flower correctly, you should clean out any dead flowers during the summer and either cut back close to the ground in the fall and provide winter protection, or barely cut back and only prune in the spring, depending on the region and weather conditions.
Cutting during the summer
Pruning is not necessary during the growing season. However, it is important to regularly clean out anything that has faded. Also use this opportunity to remove any yellowed or dried leaves. Thanks to this care measure, the plant puts all its strength into the formation of new flowers and not into the formation of seeds.
The Autumn Cut
Different approaches have proven successful for the plant, which is not completely hardy.
- In autumn, cut the cockade flower back to a hand's width above the ground, thereby removing most of the foliage and all of the flowers that are still attached. Spread an airy winter protection made of brushwood or mulch over it.
- In very cold regions, you should hardly cut back in autumn, as its own foliage is an effective winter protection for the parrot flower. Place brushwood branches over the plant and only cut Gallardia close to the ground in March or April. You can often see the first green leaves that herald new growth.
- To promote strong foliage formation before the cold season, you can cut Gallardia back heavily as early as September. The perennial therefore forms many leaves until the first frost, which remain on the cockade flower throughout the winter and act like a warm blanket.
Tip
If you want to harvest seeds yourself in autumn for sowing in spring, you should let a few flower heads ripen on the plant. If they start to dry out, they are cut off and dried on kitchen paper for a few days. You can then easily remove the seeds.
