Bill, typical advice to new growers is to cut down to a node which you might do for some of the species or primary hybrids. Link to FAQ at end of post. My Phal flowering after being cut to a node Phal. Grown by windowsill grower. Previous year's flowering stem cut at base. Here is a link that might be useful: Old FAQ

It's a folk-saying, you know? Not a law of nature. --Grin-- Those plants, they don't have calendars. All it REALLY means is that . . . FIRST, the plant spends a period growing roots. During that time, you don't see much top-growth action. That time might be in a pot, or it might be in the ground. Eventually, it's got enough root to push up some actual growth. Not BIG growth. Not mature growth, but you do see something happening. The plant is getting bigger -- and it is STILL developing an expanding root system. Then, after a while, the plant begins to put up real, almost mature canes. How long it all takes, how long it sits, how long it "creeps," how big it leaps -- that all depends on the plant and the environmental conditions. So what they do for you will prob'ly be different from what they do for ME. But I'll give you an example. From last year's cemetery sale, we brought home two roses we didn't buy -- but which were way too small to sell. One of those (Pale Pink Noisette/Little Mary V Tower) has put up a couple of little canes, about 8 inches long. Another, a 'White Maman Cochet' had two little tired leaves. Suddenly, those leaves fell, and it put on four new crisp leaves. So I figure that by next spring, they will have finished sleeping, and will be creeping, and MIGHT even go into a 5-Gallon. They won't LEAP 'til they're in someone's garden. Jeri

Leave the 2 leaves to manufacture food. Cut the stalk snywhere. It will eventually wither. Not a critical issue. Some people snap them off. Yu are right about rebloomers benefitting from further attention. A low nitrogen feeding after 1st bloom is suggested as well as summer water.

I have 10+ year old yuccas and discovered by accident that leaving the dead flower stems on until next year's flower stalks get too high for the deer seems to deflect the deer. The old stalks apparently get in their way and except for a few around the edges, the deer leave the rest alone. Doing this also leads to copious numbers of volunteers across the yard distributed by New Mexico's spring winds. Starting with three, I now have 15 blooming and about 20 new shoots this year. They don't always come up where you want them but are easy to transplant when young. I leave as many as I can where are. Seems they know better where they want to grow than I do.