red hot pokers

Good morning all,
The flowers on my red hot pokers are really past their best now, do I remove them or let them die in their own time?
This has been another stoopid question brought to you by WindyMiller PLC. This does not affect your statutary rights :D

 

I dead head mine, I also pull off the dead bits you get round the bottom of the flowers to try to keep them going.

 

I remove the entire stem of mine and tidy up the leaves of the plant.

 

Thank you both for your great advice. Sometimes my questions are so basic I'm almost embarrassed to ask

 

Hey, headbanger, I've asked many a stupid question ... and one still hasn't been answered about how I get the seeds from my pink Passion flower! :D

 

OO er! :eek: Think I need to lie down :D :D

 

L of L, why would you want seeds from your passion flower, cuttings are much quicker. :D

 

... doh, because a couple of people have asked for them ! :D including

:rolleyes:

 

Sorry L of L, think I must be going mad. :D
Its probably due to the heat, its getting the blame for most things over here at the moment. :rolleyes: :D

 

LOL .... The normal way to get the passion flower seeds is to allow the unblemished fruit to ripen, clean and dry seeds... M-L

 

With a small paint brush collect the pollen from the parts that have the pollen and brush it onto the long central part of the flower, not a very technical reply but its the general idea.
Do a few flowers at a time around midday is best I think, when the central bulb starts to swell in a couple of days you can tell its set.

 

Thanks, M-L, but I have got any fruit!

Forgiven, Pete, I know how it can get when the head goes fuzzy from the heat; go in slow motion mode and can't concentrate at all! I'll have a go with the paintbrush theory, makes sense ... mad dogs and Englishmen out in the midday sun, pollinating their flowers with paintbrushes! I just hope the neighbours don't see me! :D :D :D Thanks. :rolleyes:

 

LOL ...are they the RED ornamental Passion Flower, Passiflora coccinea ... if so they don't bear fruit .........silly me !!!! M-L

 

No, it's the deep / shocking pink one called P. pinnatistipula. Look under the thread Pink Passion (I think in Container Gardening) to see the colour.

 

LOL as you see the pinnatistipula does bear fruit ..so you may just have to wait another season ..... :confused: M-L