The only time I saw them really need water was during a terrific drought
we had 3 or 4 years ago. They seem to 'shrink' when they are really too
dry. But pop right back with a bit of water. Most of mine are in beds
that do get watered when it is very dry, so they do get water maybe once
a week in the summer.

I experimented with mine this year - I have several big clumps by the
mailbox and I cut them (the whole plant) back to about 4-5" in the fall,
then in the early spring they looked a bit tatty so I cut them back
again. The flowers were not the huge 4' tall ones that I had last year.
A respectable 2-3' but not so huge.

The others - in a similar garden bed were not cut back except to remove
the papery brown under leaves. They DID get really big.

So this next time - spring of '06 - I will only cut back in the early
spring.

They need dividing about every 2-3 years.

Sterling

huerochingon wrote:
Thanks! I've also heard these plants are pretty drought tolerant. Does
that mean that I can let the soil get real dry in the summer and
they'll still bloom and thrive or do I still need to water it a couple
times a week?