(growing at the tip of a branch or stem) bud is removed, side shoots will produce
many small flowers. Disbudding is most often practiced by growers of show
chrysanthemums, peonies, carnations and pinks. For certain plants the thinning
of stems can produce larger flowers.(top) The appearance of
Pulmonaria plants can be
greatly improved by removing
old flowering stems. The old
stems have fallen to the outside
of this clump of Pulmonaria
longifolia ‘E. B. Anderson’.
(right) The stems can be
grabbed by the handful and
pruned to the ground.
90 PruninG Perennials