ok to cut daffodil flowers?

ladyyoung

this is the first year we have daffodils in our garden.  i planted the bulbs last fall and we got great blooms!  the flowers began to die and look bad so i cut the stems and flowers off.  is this ok?  will i still get blooms next year? 

i know you are supposed to leave the leaves until they turn yellow so i left those...

also, is this the general rule for bulbs?  as long as you leave the foliage does it matter when you cut the flowers?

hoping4septimus

I would wait until they turn brown. That way you'll get even more next year.

I usually just tie the stems in a knot to keep them out of the way when I plant my summer color.

kylara111

That's what I always do. I cut the flower stems of all my bulbs after they're done flowering but leave the foliage.

MadameFancyPants

hoping4septimus:

I would wait until they turn brown. That way you'll get even more next year.

I usually just tie the stems in a knot to keep them out of the way when I plant my summer color.

That's a great idea!

ladyyoung

hoping4septimus:

I would wait until they turn brown. That way you'll get even more next year.

I usually just tie the stems in a knot to keep them out of the way when I plant my summer color.

so you leave the flowers on until they are completely dead and brown?  the blooms were kind of brown and wilty when i cut them off with the stems (they are right on the curb in front of our house - by the mailbox - so looking kind of ugly!)  again, i left the leaves. 

so do you think i'll still get flowers next year?

krissypoo41

ladyyoung:

hoping4septimus:

I would wait until they turn brown. That way you'll get even more next year.

I usually just tie the stems in a knot to keep them out of the way when I plant my summer color.

so you leave the flowers on until they are completely dead and brown?  the blooms were kind of brown and wilty when i cut them off with the stems (they are right on the curb in front of our house - by the mailbox - so looking kind of ugly!)  again, i left the leaves. 

so do you think i'll still get flowers next year?

yes - even if you "dead head" your flowers - cut off or break off the dead ones, but still leave the leaves there, you should be fine. I dead head mine every year when the flowers get brown color and they keep coming back. I think this is a good gardening tip/practice to dead head any plant when a flower gets all wilty, dead - I learned it from a gardener / landscape architect. You dead head just that immediate flower, not the whole bush or anything. You are essentially pruning back the dead part so new growth can come in is my understanding.

morgana0

I am a horticulturalist working at a botanical garden and we cut our daffs back once they start looking bad- flowering stems only. They come back every year, looking strong and healthy. Make sure that when you cut bulbs with naked stems like that, that you cut them back all the way, to within one inch of the crown or base of the plant- if you just pull the heads off there is no growth point there still living and you stress the bulbs as they try to support the flowerless stem. Leave the leaves always until they brown and crisp up- they support the bulb and help it to store up nutrients for next years beautiful blooms! GL!

ladyyoung

thanks!!