Both will boost the power of all your flowers—annuals, perennials, and shrubs alike.
Certain flowers need support to help encourage upright stems as they grow and when blooming; even those with sturdy enough stems can be undermined by a heavy wind or rainfall.
Single Stakes: For tall, heavy flowers that grow in singles (delphinium, foxgloves, hollyhocks, lilies, and sunflowers): Place a tall wood or bamboo stake (or tree branch) next to a single stem, then loosely tie twine around stake and stem in a figure eight.
Grow-Through Stakes: For annuals and perennials that grow in clumps (peonies, asters, garden phlox, helenium, goldenrod): Use “peony rings,” placing the stakes in a circle around groups of flowers when planting. Once shoots appear, secure the grow-through ring about 1 foot above ground. As plants grow, raise ring as needed. Tomato cages can also be used.
Linking stakes: For less sturdy flowers (Japanese anemones, Shasta daisies, ladybells, and crocosmia) that tend to lean after blooming, or have been trampled by rain: Insert upright stakes in a line in front of the flowers, in regular intervals, then link the arms between each one, bending the joints to secure.
To extend the life of blooms (and the plants themselves), remove spent flowers (aka “dead heads”).