"Phil L" wrote in message
k...


I allow mine to die back, then a few weeks later, remove the huge spiky
stalk, I try not to remove this until it's gone brown, I fear I may damage
the plant if I do it while it's green...another point to note, once it's
flowered, it usually sends up another head, ours now has 7 heads and six
of them flowered last year, but during dead leaf removal, I snapped off a
huge chunk of plant (3 of the heads and a 3 inch thick branch adjoining
them to the main trunk)...it may also send up shoots from the base, these
can be snapped off and will readily grow into new plants just by sticking
them in a pot of soil - no TLC required with these things, they're even
growing in the wasteland at the side of my house where some of them were
unceremoniously chucked a few years ago.

Thanks, everyone for the advice, I'm try what you have suggested, Phil. I've
just had a careful look at it just now and the flower spike is still
healthily very green and would be worried about causing damage if I hacked
it off just now. I'll tether it to prevent it blowing over as it's causing
the plant to become a bit lopsided (plant + flower is about 7ft tall).
When you do remove it, how far down into the plant do you go?

regards,

David