coast crab

I have a very large, old sago in my garden. It splits into 2 tall trunks about 1 foot above the ground, with 2 large heads of foliage. The plant is female and has bloomed for several years in a row each spring, with new leaves coming out after the seed sets mid summer. It had 2 years of foliage on it before this past winter did enough damage to warrant cutting it all off. Instead of new sets of leaves on each head I'm getting those damn "flowers" again!!!! Since it has no leaves at all, this is a GIANT waste of time and energy.

The female flower, cone, fruiting body or whatever you call it looks like tiny fuzzy modified fronds. I'm thinking about going in a very carefully removing them one by one to stop this process, essentially deadheading it - but being careful not to damage the center bud. It looks like a giant dead stupid cactus without the leaves, and I'm worried about those flowers draining it when that energy should go toward foliage.

Any thoughts?

Russell

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