aboriginal to the hayfield and prairie across North America , the beeblossom ( Gaura spp . ) looks like a weedy , shadowy wildflower . Gardeners enjoy the tall , gangling efflorescence stanch that are line with blank to rap , five - petaled blossoms that attract bee and butterflies . Beeblossom grown in gardens is unremarkably any cultivar of Gaura lindheimeri , which is an herbaceous perennial with recondite taproot . uprise it in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant life hardiness zone 5b through 9 .
Growth Characteristics
In USDA zones 8b and warmer , beeblossom may die hard as a semi - deciduous plant when wintertime lack frost or abrasive subfreezing temperatures . It usually dies back on some stage in winter but resprouts leaves and create a clump of leaf and stems 2 to 4 feet marvellous and wide in outpouring . In zones 5 through 8a , require winter cold to to the full vote down all above - ground tissues . Prune off dead or atrocious stalk and leaf in very former spring , retaining the lower - bow stub at a length of 2 to 6 inches .
Deadheading
The primary pruning maintenance conducted on beeblossom is deadheading , or the clipping off of flower stems that no longer exhibit blooms . nip the flowerless stems off at their base near their attachment to main plant stems . Deadheading prevents previous flowers ' ovaries from develop seed , thereby promote the plant to again grow more flowers in an attempt to make semen by and by . Beeblossom can rebloom repeatedly from belated spring through drop if deadheading is systematically and repeatedly done .
Rejuvenation
Beeblossom plants that are older and well - established , such as over 2 age quondam , may become a large clump of ratty root word . If you wish to prune back the large works to tidy it up or prevent it from crowd out nearby perennial , clip it back in early spring and again in early summertime after the first flowering flush goal . dilute theme length by 6 to 20 inches , so long as no more than one - one-half of all root length is removed . The beeblossom respond by growing new parting and branch and then blooming again by midsummer to belated summertime and remain until fall hoarfrost . Deadhead to ascertain the good reflowering . Do n’t rejuvenate - prune beeblossom past midsummer as the regrowth may not maturate enough to rebloom well before frost . In USDA zone 9 , this pruning can be done in September for reflowering after Halloween .
Plant Division
As an alternative to constantly pruning back enceinte glob of beeblossom perennial , digging up and dividing plant in the glob repress item-by-item plant size . This nonsexual extension also increases the phone number of plant that can be grown in locations across the garden . dig out up plant and carve up the stem and root in spring before plant life expose too many Modern sprouting leave .
