This time of year, one of the most common questions we receive is, “What do you do with Daffodils after they are done blooming?” Since they flower so early in the season, many gardeners are left wondering what to do with their Daffodil foliage after their plants bloom. We’ve cleared up some common misconceptions, and provided instructions on how to ensure your spring bulbs remain healthy for future blooms, while ensuring your garden is never lacking in color.
Daffodil After-Bloom Care: Maintaining Their Foliage
While it can be tempting to cut back the foliage of your Daffodils after they’ve finished flowering, this is not a good idea! Those leaves are still capturing energy from the sun, which they use to create starches and sugars from carbon dioxide, as well as moisture and minerals from the soil. Think of it like your Daffodils recharging their batteries—that energy reserve will provide the fuel your bulbs need to bloom again in spring.
Ensuring Adequate Sunlight
Daffodils love their sunshine, and they need lots of it to perform to their best potential! Daffodils that don’t get enough sunlight will often stretch, becoming tall and leggy, yet not strong enough to hold themselves upright. Make sure you plant your bulbs somewhere that receives at least six hours of direct sun per day. This way, they’ll be able to photosynthesize properly, storing all those nutrient reserves for next year’s bloom. If your Daffodils are looking weak and floppy, you can dig up the bulbs in early June and replant them in a sunnier spot for better growth in the future.
Leave Those Leaves Alone
Instead of cutting back the foliage, some gardeners will tie up their Daffodil leaves or braid them together. This isn’t a good idea, because it makes it harder for the leaves to photosynthesize. They need lots of carbon dioxide from the air, and if the leaves are all bunched together, it will restrict air circulation considerably. It will also limit the amount of sunshine they can soak up. Just leave those leaves alone and let them do their thing!
Companion Plants for Daffodils
Worried your garden will be lacking in color once those spring flowers fade? There are plenty of different plants you can mix into the garden bed amongst the Daffodils to bring some summer color.
Daylilies, or Hemerocallis, make fantastic companions for spring flowering bulbs because their foliage emerges while your spring bulbs are flowering. After those blooms have faded, the Daylilies will begin flowering, masking the linear leaves of your Daffodils. You won’t be sour about having a bunch of flower-less Daffodil plants in the garden when those gorgeous daylilies are adding all the necessary color and visual interest to perk up your scenery!
Around the base of your planted Daffodils, you can carefully insert other summer flowering bulbs like Lilies, Gladiolus, Eucomis (Pineapple Lily) or Oxalis. These will bring plenty of gorgeous color and texture to liven things up. You can also insert some small plugs of summer perennials like Nepeta (Catmint), Monarda (Bee Balm), Veronica, or ornamental grasses, to name a few.
After one year, those perennials will be well established and will effectively mask the maturing Daffodil leaves, so you won’t be tempted to cut them. Make sure to transplant them carefully and avoid damaging your planted bulbs. Always choose companion plants with similar care requirements—full sun and well-draining soil—to ensure every plant in the garden is comfortable and content.
One other option you can try for adding more garden color is sprinkling in some bi-annual flower seeds in fall when you’re cleaning up your garden. They’ll bloom the following spring, and you can plant them alongside all sorts of other spring-blooming bulbs like Tulips, Irises, and Hyacinths. Violas, Aquilegia, and even edible plants like lettuce and kale are perfect for bringing visual contrast to the garden and masking that leftover foliage.
After the Daffodil leaves have turned yellow and dried up, you can finally cut them back in preparation for winter.
Brent and Becky’s has plenty of Daffodils for sale in Virginia, as well as plenty of other spring-blooming bulbs to be planted in the fall. Visit us soon to stock up on everything you need, including summer-blooming plants to add color after your spring flowers have faded.
