When it comes to Perennial flowers many people say they don't care for them since they bloom for only a short time compared to annuals. Many perennials if they are dead headed ( cutting the spent flower head off) will bloom again and again till fall. A good example are Columbines, which will bloom in mid May here in the north and go till frost if dead headed. Cutting back is simular, but is more to control the plants growth. Some of the creeping ground covers will take over a flower bed and choke out other plants if not cut back to keep them in check. Plants such as Asters if cut back in early summer will become a tight thick mass of blooms which support themselves. If left unchecked they become rather tall and the stems break letting the blooms fall in disarry after a strong wind. Al
