Cutting Back Daffodils: When, Why and How 

I completely agree on both points: waiting and how they get better and better over time! 💛

My pleasure Annie! Thank you for your helpful feedback too! 💛

Thanks so much David, and hello from across the pond! I appreciate your feedback very much!

Ikr, very chill

😊

Well obviously you have some very happy daffodil bulbs! You don't have to remove the leaves at all. The main mistake that gardeners make is to cut the leaves back way too soon. Sounds like you've been doing things right! 😃

That's wonderful you got to enjoy your neighbor's beautiful daffodils! While many gardeners used to braid their daffodils leaves, this is a practice that is not recommended. But I'm happy your elderly neighbor had success! Thanks for sharing! 😄

It is all beautiful, you are right! I wish more people saw it this way, but so many are conditioned to get their leaf blowers out the minute two leaves fall onto their green lawns. It drives me nuts because one of the best memories as a child outside was raking huge leaf piles and jumping into the leaves! Leaf blowing seems to have become a requirement for some homeowners every Fall. 🙄 Just my opinion!

No-one is going to objects to leaves falling into the yard or onto grass, but space in a flower bed is prime real estate plant-wise. At the point daffodils are dying back I would need that space to make way for summer annuals. If they aren’t put in at this stage you don’t get your summer display.

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback! The purple shrub is Kramer's Red Winter Heath. I have a video here on my RU-vid Channel all about it. It's one of my favorites!

Oh it happens sometimes Joan! (Glad you got a new gardener!) 😄 Sprinkle some bulb fertilizer where those daffodils are. (Hopefully you know the spot in the garden even if the leaves are now missing!) The fertilizer will help give those bulbs the nutrients that will definitely help them store up what they need to bloom successfully next season. 💛

Thank you so much for your feedback Marguerite! I really appreciate it! 😊 Happy gardening to you! 🌸

You’re welcome Aisha! I’m so glad the video helped! 🌼

Wow - thanks Joann! I’m glad to read this! Hope you had a wonderful Daffodil season this year! 🌼😀

Thanks Teresa - it really helps, doesn’t it? 🌼🙂

You're very welcome Lazarus! Glad I could help! 🌼

You're welcome Patty! And many thanks for your feedback too! 😀

Thank you so much Karen! 😊 I really appreciate your feedback and hope you'll subscribe as more gardening fun is on the way!

Thanks for your feedback -- I appreciate it! Yes, the waiting is a study in patience, but you'll be rewarded with beautiful flowers again next year!

You're so welcome! Glad to help! 😀

Wow thanks, very clear, helpful. I saved u your video

@@almamissionpreneur8418 I'm so glad the video was helpful Alma, and I really appreciate your feedback too! 💛🌱

My pleasure, Flonnia! Happy I could help! 🌼

Me too Julie! Always happy to help! 😊

Thanks Timothy! Like you, I sometimes forget about some of the daffodil stems because they're on the ground underneath other plants -- which of course means less work for me! Thanks for the great perennial suggestions too! 🌺🌼🏵

You’re welcome! The hardest part is waiting to cut them back to the ground, but it’s worth it for next year’s flowers! Glad I could help - and enjoy your garden! 🌼🙂

My pleasure Ian! Happy Gardening!

You're welcome!

You're most welcome!

You're welcome Ian!

Thank you so very much Marguerite. Your support means so much! ❤🌺🌼😊

I'm so glad you enjoyed your daffodils in a pot! I keep telling myself every Spring to add some potted daffodils next year, so hopefully in the Fall I'll remember! 🤣 I have never grown tulips because of the rabbits around here that love to eat them. I do know there are some tulips that return reliably every year, while other tulips will never come back as robust as they did their first year of bloom. It depends upon the species.

You're welcome Debbie!

Hi Karen -- those smaller yellow ones are Tete-a-Tete Daffodils. They are my favorites because they bloom early and for a long time. Plus, their bright color really is showy in the landscape among what can still be a dreary time of year! They are a smaller size, so definitely best to plant in groupings. 💛 Here is a video on seven weather-proof varieties I have in my garden which will provide more info: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ef3mIGwN0-U.htmlsi=qbEE6FFOjCJvqo5m I hope this helps!

You're very welcome! 🌼

Hi Olive -- so glad you may have found the key to lots of daffodils blooming each year! It can be such a study in patience waiting until you can cut them back for the year. Hopefully your pretty tulips will distract you from the daffodil greenery as it ages! 🌷🌷🌷

Thank you!

Thank you Paul! Waving to you from "across the pond" as they say! 👋

@@GardenSanitydid I understand correctly that if I cut all my blooms and bring them inside they won’t bloom next year?

@@faribajavaherpour710 They will bloom next year! 😃You can cut your Daffodils to enjoy in a vase, but leave the rest of the long leaves in place on the plants in the garden. These leaves will continue to draw nutrients from the sun and deliver them down to the bulb. Once those stems are brown, simply remove them and you'll be all set for next year's Daffodils! 👍

Thanks so much! Cheers to joining me in the (what seems like) never-ending supply of patience we have for those yellow-brown daffodil leaves! Happy to hear you don't have the Rosette Disease either! Whew! I'm still evaluating my shrub.

Great combination Kei! Love this idea! 👍

Oh your garden sounds lovely! I do the same thing: remove any brown stems so everything is nice and green for as long as possible. It's amazing how full the garden looks even though a lot of the green is all of the remaining daffodil leaves! Enjoy your garden!

The irises I planted behind the the daffodils are starting to bloom now and the hosta I planted in front of them are filling out nicely. I have annuals growing in trays that I’ll plant in between the daffodils once they fall over and I cut them down. It’s been perfect weather here for a garden here in NJ so far. Rain mostly at night and some degree of sunshine during the day with mild spring temperatures. I’d say the best weather in several years or more. I’m excited about how the flower beds are going to turn out!

Smart move (pun intended!) to place the containers in the back. Just as you want to plant daffodils in your landscape, I want to plant daffodils in containers as another project! 😀

I’m planting them in a pot but I wonder if I can add other plants in there too.

My climate isn’t great for planting bulbs in outdoor pots, so I can’t properly advise you. However, maybe planting your bulbs with a flowering perennial in the same pot will later draw attention away from the yellowing leaves of the bulbs when they’re finished. Another idea is to plant bulbs in a container around a small evergreen. I’m 100% envious of the beautiful pots and containers of bulbs that I’ve seen many gardeners plant in the United Kingdom. I would love to plant lots of bulb containers and be able to leave them outdoors! 🪴🪴🪴

You're most welcome! You can dig up and transplant the daffodils now, even with the green leaves and stems still on them. Once transplanted, it is possible you'll see rapid dying of those leaves -- but -- you can put down some bulb fertilizer and work it into the soil and this will help to nourish the bulbs over the next year until they bloom for you next Spring! Alternatively, you can wait until the stems are mostly dead and dig up/transplant at that time too. I've done both ways and it's worked out fine. I hope this helps! 🌼 😃

@@GardenSanity thank you ever so much. I just bought a house last December and this is the first time I have garden. I was soo late with everything but gave it a try and planted the bulbs this January outside, they are in full bloom literally now ❤️ I guess the mild climate worked.

@@AttilaKiss-uh2iz Congratulations on your new home and starting a garden too! There's nothing like daffodils in Springtime! I've planted daffodils as late as December in the past, and yes: the surprise that "it worked" when they come up and bloom is very satisfying!

Why thank you Arundhati! 🙂

You are welcome Tim! Sounds like you’re seeing great examples of how hardy daffodils are - they can survive through almost anything! Glad I could help! 🙂

You're welcome K! 🌼 That's wonderful you were able to take some of the Spring-blooming bulbs! You don't want to remove the foliage before it yellows, as even after the blooms are finished, there is still quite a bit of nutrients being taken in by the green leaves and stems of these plants. Once the stems have yellowed -- like you mentioned they have on your daffodils -- you can cut them off at the base of the plant. When not in bloom, bulbs actually prefer to be on the dry side, so just make sure the pots don't totally dry out, but add some water maybe once a week, or if there's no rain for awhile. In the Fall, add in some bulb fertilizer to the top of the soil and water it in well. You could also plant them into the ground now, versus waiting until the Fall season. But if you want to wait to plant them in the Fall, that is fine too! Either way works! I hope this helps! What color are the peonies? They are always so pretty!

Thanks for your question! Unfortunately, Daffodils only have one blooming season in Spring. So now that yours are in full bloom, enjoy every moment of their pretty flowers! Make sure to let their foliage die back naturally without cutting them off too soon. Your bulbs will multiply over time and your flowers will increase every year. To enjoy a longer season of Daffodils, I planted several varieties that are early-blooming, mid-season blooming, and late-blooming. This way I get a few months of flowers! 😀🌼 I have several Daffodil videos you can watch to help with your care of them, and a video about the varieties I have, which might give you some ideas: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ef3mIGwN0-U.html 🌼 I hope this helps!

You don't have to cut them back at all. They will eventually dry up on their own like they were never there! 😊

Thanks for asking! Those are called Totally Tangerine Geum. It's a fabulous sterile variety, so it flowers much longer than other Geums. One of my favorite perennials! 😊

Thanks for asking! What you’re seeing is called “bud blast” and this can happen to daffodils due to a number of possibilities - not all that have been proven. First - just cut them off, because they won’t bloom. Those brown buds decided to stop producing before they got to the blooming stage. This won’t impact your daffodils for next year. There are several reasons why bud blast can occur, including: using fertilizer with too much nitrogen, so the energy is more focussed on the greenery rather than the flowers; a sudden burst of heat or cold occurring right after daffodils bloom can possibly affect the flowers one year later. I know that sounds nuts, but there’s theories out there about this. Also a too wet Autumn can affect them, or too wet in the ground during Winter. Planting them too shallow is another possibility. Sometimes if they don’t get enough moisture during the Summer months, when they are still storing energy for the following year’s flowers, this could also affect the blooms. As you can see, there are many possible reasons for this happening. Planting too late in the season is listed as a reason - yet I plant mine late and haven’t had this happen. Also storing the bulbs in a too warm environment before you plant them into the ground could cause bud blast too. Some gardeners will put their bulbs in the fridge - and yet the gasses from any fruit in the fridge could affect the bulbs and cause bud blast. Crazy, right? So. What to do? Deadhead those brown buds off. Leave the stems in place for at least six weeks before cutting them back. Definitely use a bulb fertilizer around the daffodils - lift up the stems if they’ve flopped over and apply the fertilizer, then work it into the soil before putting the stems back in place, then water the fertilizer in if no rain is coming. During the Summer, if where you live is dry or they don’t get a lot of moisture, make sure to periodically water those areas. (I tend to think this isn’t an issue, as most of us gardeners end up watering our gardens regularly during the Summer months and those areas get watered in the process.) Don’t overdo it with the fertilizer - but - feel free to apply a bit more in mid-Fall to those areas. (Perhaps mark where the brown buds occurred with a skinny bamboo skewer - something that won’t be noticeable during the Summer, but you will be able to find come Fall. Hopefully, with all of this - you won’t experience this next year. Does this help? 🌼🌱

Hello Vincenza, Tulips aren’t very reliable to come back as well as their first year, so you could plant the bulbs in the ground, but they may not return next year. Daffodils, on the other hand, are perennials that will continue to come back year after year and continue to multiply. So you can plant them in the ground while they’re blooming to enjoy the show, or wait until the flowers are gone, and then plant them into the ground. Don’t cut the foliage off for at least six weeks so that the daffodils can get the nutrients they need for blooming next year. I hope this helps?

Hi Lisa! Did you have green stems that came up, but no flowers? Definitely leave those stems in place until they turn brown. It is possible the stems removed too early last year didn't allow the bulbs to store up enough energy to bloom this year. If it was me, I'd add some bulb fertilizer to the area, working it gently into the dirt, and then I'd also plant more daffodils just in case these ones don't come back. Fingers crossed you'll enjoy flowers next year! 🤞

Great suggestion Sharon! It's something I'm personally still working on. I finally found some taller late-Spring blooming perennials like Totally Tangerine Geum and Petite Jenny Lychnis that are hiding the daffodils quite nicely! Geranium Rozanne is great for this as well! 👍

Hi Celeste - You’re welcome! And no worries - those rabbit repellents just “repel” rabbits away from the plants by the scent which they don’t like. 👍🙂

Me too!! Happy now to clean my daffodils, etc.Thanks

@@almamissionpreneur8418 Glad you liked the video Alma! 😀

No worries! Your daffodils should be ok as six weeks is a good amount of time. Yes it's always good to wait until the stems are flopped over and brown, but I don't think you've done any long-term damage at all. They still had a lot of time to store up some energy for next year. Sprinkle some Espoma Bulb-tone (or similar bulb fertilizer) around where they were planted, and as it gets watered into the soil the fertilizer will provide an extra dose of nutrients to the bulbs for next year. 👍

Hi Judy, It’s best to leave the stems in place as well as the leaves, with just the dead flowers snipped off. 👍 As for squirrels, they are attracted to disturbed soil which is why many times they will dig up bulbs right after they are planted. (Very frustrating!) Usually in the late Spring and Summer, squirrels have so many other food sources that they don’t pay attention to what’s underground. 🐿️ One idea - if they are a nuisance - is to sprinkle a granular deterrent like Repels-All. I hope this helps! 😀🌼

Thank you for your advice.

@@judyanderson8782 You're welcome Judy! Glad to help anytime! 🌼💚

I lifted after blooming too soon to store and to use the bed for new plants as I have limited space, I will stick them back in the ground. I hope I have blooms next spring

Yes you can! It's also possible the bulbs were bad, because you definitely should have had more than just a few flowers even if planted a bit too deep. Now would be the best time to lift, while you can still see where they are, then give them some bulb fertilizer to help them get a good start in storing up nutrients over the next year. 🌼

Yes if you dig up the bulbs, they should be replanted immediately. They need to have a full year to store up all that energy to produce wonderful flowers for you next year. 👍

Hi Christian, You can transplant them once the ground is warmed up a bit and nightly temps are no longer in the 30s, just to make sure the soil is warm enough so that the bulbs and their roots can continue growing. Sometimes after transplanting, the daffodils and their leaves may go from standing up (in container) to falling over pretty quickly once transplanted into the garden. Don’t worry, as it doesn’t mean anything other than they might have some transplant shock. Add some bulb fertilizer around where you plant them, and next year they will return! 🌼🙂 And once planted into the garden, leave those leaves and stems until they brown, to make sure they soaked up enough nutrients from the sun. 🌞

@@GardenSanity thank you! This is their first season in a container. How many more seasons do you think I could keep there? I ask because they were planted rather tightly.

@@xtiancalderon Maybe one more season, if there are a lot of bulbs planted tightly. Make sure to leave the stems until they all turn brown. This is very important if there's a lot of bulbs together, so the bulbs get enough energy and nutrients via the sun on the stems, etc. Then when you cut the stems back, make sure the pot doesn't dry out during the Summer. In the Fall, add some bulb fertilizer, and make sure the pot doesn't dry out over the Winter season either. 👍

​@@GardenSanity November

@@emeraldgreen9896 Yes, November is a perfect time for daffodil bulb planting, however you don't want to leave any potted bulbs in containers until that time. To transplant those bulbs into the soil, it's best to do so once they're done blooming just to get them settled into their new (and permanent) home in the garden. Hope this helps! 😀

I cover this in-depth in this video for you, including discussing when they flop over like you're asking. I also show examples to know what to look for. In general leave your daffodils at least 6 weeks before cutting them back. Rather than retype everything I mentioned in the video that will completely answer your question, it's easier to just watch it again -- especially from section 2:18 and continue from there. Hope this helps! 💛

Definitely agree with you! At least my husband has become used to this period where there's lots of "extra" green stems everywhere making things look just a tad unkempt. 🤣

Hi Rose -- The daffodil plant will begin focusing its energy on making seeds. You'll see the little "lump" developing inside the stem just below the dried flower. Those seeds "could" be planted, but will take quite some time to develop into flowering plants. We want the daffodil plant (after blooming) to focus all its energy on taking in nutrients from the sun and soil through the remaining leaves above ground and roots and bulb below ground. These nutrients get stored into the bulb and will result in next year's flowers. That's why when cutting stems back too early, we may not get flowers the following year -- the plant hasn't had enough resources to gather and store nutrients. So not deadheading isn't a deal breaker, but it does help. And I hope this helps! 😃

Great combination Patty! I just planted my first Hosta last Summer -- no idea why I waited so long! 🤣 Now the daffodils nearby blend in nicely.

I like the way you put that: waiting for them to say they're all done and it's time for a nap! 💤 It's easiest for most gardeners to visually see the greens turning to brown and know the daffodil foliage is finished gathering nutrients from the sun, but you are right that it's a neat feeling to know they've bloomed their hearts out and need a well-deserved rest. 🌞I love how many bulbs there are when digging them up -- it always makes me smile how nature works underground! 😊

🤣 I hear your Cheryl - It is indeed a study in patience waiting for the leaves to yellow. One way to minimize the look is to plant perennials that will come up and help to camouflage the daffodil leaves. I'm working on a video right now where I show how I've done that in one part of my garden. You don't need to look at dead-looking foliage for that long, because once the leaves yellow then you can remove them. They won't yellow for at least 6 or 8 weeks. In the meantime, they are beautiful upright sprays of greenery...although some will definitely just flop over too.

Some people tie them with bows. A lot of options to razzle dazzle them so they look nice as you wait for them to yellow😊

Don't give up on spring daffodils!!!! Plant them in pots and move the pots when the flowers are over and let the foliage mature in peace. Use a bit of bulb fertilizer to add strength to the bulbs for next year. Don't forget to water the pots until the foliage flops and starts to die.

They're her favorite spring flower! She figured out how to live with the dying foliage! Great video!

I'd have them just in a wild area so I wouldn't need to worry about it in my beds