Dear Members; >think removing the seed heads (only) does help many plants. Some >plants even die if you let them go to seed. Mostly not bulbs, but my experience: Pieris (japonica, etc), lily-of-the-valley shrub, definately performs much better when deadheaded immediately after flowering. If deadheaded, each branch terminal will usually make three or four branches. If not deadheaded, often no new branches, or only one. If you have a Pieris that is thin and ragged looking, try deadheading. Rhododendron racemosum sets an enormous number of flowers, and each flower becomes a seed pod. Whole branches die, so you seldom see a plant of this rhododendron that doesn't have dead branches. The answer is very simple-- simply take a pair of pruners and cut off most of the previous years' growth and resulting flowers/seed pods, either during flowering (take them into the house for a bouquet) or after the flowers fall. New growth will normally more than make up for what is pruned off. You don't need to remove all of the flowers/seedpods, just most of them. Pyracantha, or firethorn bush, does the same thing--branches that have had masses of berries will usually die back part way, and should be pruned out. I can't give statistics, but lilies (Lilium) which have set a large head of seedpods normally do not flower as well the following year. It is also worth noting that the common tiger lily, (Lilium lancifolium, formerly L. tigrinum), is a triploid, does not set seed, but does produce numerous bulbils in the axils of the leaves. The diploid forms of L. lancifolium are much less vigorous, and produce few or no bulbils. The triploid form is seen everywhere, while the diploid forms are only found in the gardens of lily hobbists. Ken Z7 western Oregon