Since my winters are mild compared to Z5b winters, I do not usually get any dried out stems that need pruning. I also do not deahead and prefer that Mother Nature do that for me (the spent blooms fall and disappear sometime in Jan-Feb here). Sometime after the plants go dormant but before they leaf out, I will look around to see if I need to do something about the flopping issue. It is easier to see the stems then so I try to determine if the round metal "gizmos" I have around Annabelle will continue to help yet one more year. I may have to add one more of them one of these years.... By the middle to the end of May, I will pay a visit to all the hydrangeas and prune off any dead wood and stems that have not leafed out. The assumption here is that the slowest grower should leaf out by the end of May. If it has not, I assume the stem dried out and I prune it. In June, I inspect to control size of all hydrangeas. Since some of the shrubs are old wood Macs and I am lazy, I check/prune then, regardless of what hydrangea it is. I do not prune to control flower size or production. Which is odd, now that I think of it, as I do try to control flower size and production when it comes down to some of the camellias and the peach tree.

I take cuttings from suckers or whatever gets outside the cages. they are 5-6" long with generally 2 leaves. I prune off any flowers and about 1/2 the length of any leaves, except the growing tips. This restricts the leaf surface area so that the unrooted cuttings don't have to support their transpiration. I use powdered rooting hormone and stick the cuttings in a fairly light potting soil, in 2" square cell flats, though I suppose a tray would work. The media needs to be both well drained and moisture retentive, so I've used diferent mixtures of sand, compost, peat and perlite. The trick seems to be not too much water, yet enough to prevent wilting. I've tried putting 6" sticks around the edge of the flats then covering the whole thing with clear plastic bags to build a mini-greenhouse, but have done it with no cover as well. They must be kept in shade at first, maybe a week or 2, then gradually hardened in more sun once I pull a few cuttings and see rooting making progress. Eventually they get the moment of truth with full sun and increased fertility. Never let them go dry until you see roots out the bottom or they develop a root ball, then begin hardening them off further by letting them go dry till they wilt then reviving them with plenty of water. I find this last step protection against transplant shock. My results have been about 75% survival but have improved with better care in moisture control, not too wet, not too dry, good drainage. Cutting-grown tomatoes are from mature plants, so you may find them beginning to flower in the cels, pinch the blossoms off. The maturity of the plants and planting in heat rather than cool spring soil makes the plants grow very fast once transplanted, they are precocious and fruit quickly. One risk you are taking by cuttings rather than seed is introducing whatever disease may be present in the parent, but for me this hasn't been a problem- yet, "results may vary", so steer clear of taking stock from any obviously diseased plants. Good luck, Jay

I don't prune, but if I were to, I would not take off any suckers until the plant is planted in it's final growing place, whether that be in the ground or a large pot. I would wait until the transplanted disturbed roots were established and the plant showed signs of healthy new growth. My feeling is that it's beneficial to keep all the above ground leaves to channel energy down to the roots until they become well established. But tomatoes are quite forgiving of all kinds of treatment, so in the long run (barring disease) they tend to survive and thrive no matter what you do to them.

Some of my once bloomers I prune back quite severely after they get well-established and to my surprise I've gotten a second modest fall bloom. I do this every year for Variegata di Bologna, and several times it has put out a few fall blooms on the new growth. I prune it down to about a foot because otherwise it's a gangly bush that gets in my way and eats other nearby roses without doing much good. Ditto a hundred fold for Fimbriata who would be shovel pruned if I didn't cut its gangliness back severely. I do the same hard prune for Madame Alfred Carriere who technically isn't supposed to be a once bloomer, but she is for me even I leave her canes alone. If I didn't trim her branches back to at least 2 feet I'd never have any other rose in that bed. It doesn't seem to affect her spring bloom next year as long as I trim back early - just after she finishes blooming. The main thing that determines if she'll bloom in spring is surviving cane over the winter, and that is out of my control. On the other hand, Veilchenblau is fountaining all over the place under an oak tree and it's so glorious in its natural shape I wouldn't dream of cutting it back. I'm thinking to attach its long arms to the tree to keep them out of the way for the season, but it gets to keep all its length. Other roses I trim back occasionally. Erinnerung an Brod has been holding a corner of the yard down on its own without pruning for about 8 years and it's getting mighty sparse at the base. I think I'll prune some of those branches back this year to see if I can encourage some lower branching out, and I've put other climbers around it to hide the bare bottom. It drapes itself along a fence so the length isn't so much of a problem, but the bare legs aren't ideal. I wouldn't do any substantial pruning till they're at least 4 years in the ground, but it might help with some of your straggly canes. The suckering I don't think has much relationship to pruning - if the Gallicas want to sucker they're going to do so. Cynthia