Three images of the same purple coneflower plant, flowering (at left) with prior year's stems; with seedheads (at center); and deadheaded (at right).

Figure 3. Ideal stem trimming cycle, seen in summer (A); winter, before trimming (B); and winter, after trimming (C). Solid ovals mark the current year’s stems, which do not contain bees. Dashed ovals mark the previous year’s stems, which may contain bees and are not disturbed.

Three images of the same purple coneflower plant, flowering (at left) with prior year's stems; with seedheads (at center); and deadheaded (at right).

Photos by Elsa Youngsteadt (summer) and Heather Frantz (winter) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0