Physically, what is meant by a plant that flowers "on last year's wood?"

Does this mean that the existing stem produces buds at the end of its current season, and the following year the growing process starts - or that the new stems start growing ready to produce the buds, etc, so the process starts as soon as the current year's growth has come to an end? Or a combination of both?

 

Last spring 2008 I planted a Wiegela "Bristol Ruby", It grew away quite happily all summer, then this year 2009 all the branches that grew last year had flowers on them, I could see where the plant was sending up new branches/stems but no flowers on them,:wink:
When the flowers faded and died off ,i cut away all the branches that had had flowers .I cut away at a place that had an upward facing bud.:thumb:

Which left me with all the new growth made this year ,they will flower on that "wood" next year and the cycle will continue.:gnthb:
Next years growth will come from the buds .:D

 

You need to prune immediately after flowering to get the growth for next years flowers

 

Does that mean the growth will begin after the pruning that same year? For instance, if you prune the plant (one said to flower "on next year's wood") in early September, would "next year's wood" begin to grow before Christmas, or would it only be the buds that would appear on existing stems?

 

No. It is preparation for next years flower display. If you prune after flowering the number of stems increase where you prune. More stems equals more flowers. There would be no significant growth from September. Are you talking about a particular shrub or pruning in general?

When I say after flowering I mean immediately after flowering not a couple of months down the line.

If you don't prune it will just flower next year on the new growth it has put on this year but the growth starts to get woody and leggy and not so many flowers appear. Pruning encourages fresh new growth and keeps the shrub in good condition

 

There is a general saying.......

If it flowers before the longest day, prune it after it flowers. If it flowers after the longest day, prune it in the winter.

Things like forsythia, lilacs, choysia flower early in the season when the plant has not had chance to put on any growth, and therefore it flowers on 'last years wood'.

Things like potentilla, and hebes they flower after the longest day, and need to grow before they can do this, so you can prune them to shape in the winter months, and then they can put on new growth, and go through the sequence of flowering and going to seed.

I know I may have gone over things that people have said earlier in the thread, but that little saying has helped me out over the years. If there is one thing that really annoys me, and that is people pruning plants at the wrong time of the year, and not having the forsight to leave it a bit longer, letting it flower and then giving it a good trim.

Oh, there will always be an exception to the rule, can't think of one at the moment, but I'm sure someone will!

Hope this Helps!

 

Thanks for those two answers. No, there is no particular plant I have in mind (though I am actually interested in the growth habits of raspberry for different reasons), it is just the phrase "last year's wood" that confuses. It implies that new growth actually occurs after flowering, before the end of the year (after pruning) and that the following year, the new flowers appear on this same growth or "wood." Is this so?

 

Yep. That's it:thumb: