The daffodils, and soon the tulips, are running out of bloom. Now what? What do you do with the spent flowers? Cut them off, take them out of the ground or just leave them there? We talk about facts and fables and give tips to successfully rebloom your bulbs.
Blooming bulbs: don't cut everything off
A spontaneous reaction of a lot of people is to cut everything off. Flowers, leaves, everything. Because it doesn't really look pretty, those spent bulbs, let's be honest. But let's intervene right there. Cutting everything off in the case of spent bulbs is just about the worst thing you can do. Cutting away spent flowers is fine, because then the bulb doesn't put energy into forming seeds. But leave the leaves, which we sometimes call the solar panels of the bulbs. They absorb energy from sunlight and convert it into food for the bulb. So all the goodies in the leaves have to go back into the bulb - if you want to see flowers next year.
Braiding blown-out bulbs?
We said it, it doesn't always look attractive when the leaves of spent bulbs turn dry and brown. But we found a trick for that. In the case of faded daffodils, you can braid the leaves. Braiding? Yes, you can keep them together that way until they are completely wilted. This way they don't fall open and it still looks a bit nicer. If you have a whole field full of them it's obviously hard to do that we know, but planting a few here and there is easy to do.
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In this video, Angelo talks about what to do with spent tulips and daffodils.
And what about spent tulips?
We treat tulips in the garden as annual flowers. Every year we plant new ones and pick them to keep in a vase. We then also pull the bulb out of the ground, because we know the flowers will get smaller and smaller or just not come up the following years. Botanical tulips are a different story, which of course can just stay put. But the spent cultivated varieties, they all go out. If you still want to give them a chance, cut away only the spent flower and - like the daffodils - keep the leaves so that all the energy can go back to the bulb. It is often said that the bulb should be uprooted, but that is not always necessary. Leave them in place and see what will happen next year. Flowers, yes, but much smaller.
Naturalizing bulbs should only be planted once
We make a clear distinction here between cultivated tulips, which often bloom profusely only once, and, for example, naturalized bulbs such as daffodils, crocuses or blue grapes. Because the latter you only have to plant once. You don't have to dig them up and they naturalize naturally. Ideal to provide the lawn with extra temporary restaurants for pollinators. Because the earlier there is food for them, the better their chances of survival. For this type of bulb, it is also not helpful to remove spent flowers. It can, but doesn't have to. More so, they will also spread seeds in that case.
