Last Updated on January 9, 2023 by Urska
What to do with daffodils after flowering depends on whether you plan to plant the same bulbs in the spring or not and the care they need.
The bright yellow daffodil is one of the most popular flowers grown across the United States and worldwide. It has incredible beauty, it’s easy to grow and care for, and best of all, the flowers are uniquely distinctive.
The daffodil bloom is considered the first clear sign of the arrival of spring. Even though they are easy to care for, daffodils require a considerable amount of care both before and after the bloom.
Daffodil care requires you to take a few steps to ensure that the plant is in the proper condition for next year’s bloom.
What To Do With Daffodils After Flowering
If you want to make a bouquet, you can cut down the daffodils when they are in bloom from the stem and put them together in a vase. They provide a pretty sight because the large yellow flowers look incredibly beautiful. However, once the flowers are spent, you will not love the view in the garden.
Most gardeners are particular about their gardens. They love to keep them neat and don’t like that strands of all flowers are left all over the garden once the daffodil blooms die. You will need to clean your garden of all the remains of daffodils to keep it clean.
Dying daffodils and not a pretty sight! You will need to take the necessary steps to ensure that they don’t affect your garden’s beauty and appeal.
The shape of the flower collapses, looking like soggy tissue paper, and the flower itself, once done, starts to turn brown. With time, the whole thing slides off the stem leaving a rounded bulb at the bottom.
The rounded bulb is going to turn into a seedpod if the flower is fertilized eventually. However, if it were not, it would not turn into a seedpod. The effect does not just stop there; the stem begins to turn yellow and develops a mushy appearance starting from top to bottom. When the flowers fade, you have the option of cutting them as well as the stem right afterward.
Deadheading
Deadheading is an integral part of daffodil care after blooming. It brings your daffodil plant back to its original condition. More importantly, it is going to make the plant ready for next year’s bloom. When you deadhead your flowers, your plant will become stronger because the energy will not form the seeds. Cutting your daffodils during their blooming season might increase the length of time that the bulbs bloom by up to 2 weeks.
If you want better-looking flowers in the next season, you should consider deadheading them on time. Most gardeners tend to leave the daffodils alone after they bloom, but this is not ideal as you will miss out on a good harvest in the next season.
What To Do With Daffodils After They Bloom – The Foliage
Once you finish caring for the flowers after they bloom, the next step is to look after the vegetation.
After the flowering season ends, leave the foliage and the bulbs in the same condition for about 6 weeks. This is important because the plant needs to manufacture food and the foliage helps in that process.
The plant requires food so it can be replenished all of the energy it spent when blooming. Sadly, most gardeners are often too quick to braid, tie back or even remove the foliage. If you do so, you hinder the process of photosynthesis and prevent the plants from properly replenishing their nutrients for next year’s blooming.
Therefore, it is recommended that you only consider cutting the foliage once it starts turning yellow. When its color begins to change, the plant is giving you an indication that the work of the foliage is complete and the bulbs are prepared for the following year.
No matter how fast you want to clear your garden, don’t forget to give your foliage sometimes to prepare the bulbs by feeding them. This will help ensure that the following year’s daffodils will provide you with better flowers than the current season.
What About Potted Daffodils After Flowering?
If you provide the proper care after the bloom, your potted daffodils can quickly bloom for years to come. Like the ordinary daffodils planted in the soil, you should know that these will require at least 6 weeks of natural sunlight and enough nitrogen to thrive.
This is necessary to help the plant build the bulbs for the next season. Caring for daffodils once they have flowered is a critical task, and it’s going to improve the next season’s daffodils significantly.
As a gardener, the key is to remain patient with daffodils; instead of quickly cleaning up the flowers and foliage after the plant has bloomed, you should give them time. This is important to the plant, as discussed above, and leads to significant improvements over the next year. You will need to be careful how you handle the plant after flowering, as that will help improve its health.
How To Care For Daffodils After Flowering – The Division Of Bulbs
Daffodils have one additional task for you to undertake every 3 to 10 years. You will need to divide your bulbs, and the time to do so is determined by how closely you spaced your bulbs. When foliage becomes crowded and the number and size of blooms decreases, it is time to divide your bulbs.
To divide them, wait for the foliage to turn yellow and dig up the entire daffodil patch. Dig around each daffodil clamp with a space to provide cutting into bulbs. Lift them with a garden fork to avoid damaging them.
After removing the loose soil from the body, let them dry away from sunlight for several weeks. Once dry, separate and replant them. During this process, remove all the rotten bulbs or the too-small ones retaining only the best.
Conclusion
Now that you know what to do with daffodils after flowering, you know how to care for the plant and the bulbs. You will need dedication and patience after you have harvested your flowers or after they have died to do so.
Remember, it is not wasted time or energy because you are preparing your bulbs for the next season. However, if you don’t, you will not have daffodils for your next season.
So no matter the work it takes, you should be encouraged to know that you will have a more beautiful bloom next season than the current one.
Read more about What To Do With Lilies After They Bloom.
Caroline is a gardener who loves to get down to the nitty–gritty of gardening. She proudly proclaims herself as a ‘dirt worshipper‘ and can often be found deep in the garden, covered in soil and singing to her plants. As a self–proclaimed ‘plant whisperer‘, Caroline believes that plants need love and attention just like any other living thing, and she loves to give them both. When she‘s not tending to her garden, you can often find her researching the latest gardening trends, or teaching others how to make their gardens thrive
