Daffodils - how long to die back

Can't you just tie the top leaves together and fold them over to form little tidy bunches? that neatens them up a bit and you can carry on gardening around them.

Val

 

6-8 weeks from flowering, preferably not until the foliage turns brown.

 

All the advice I see these days is not to do that; it breaks the leaves such that they don't die down naturally, reabsorbing the goodness back into the bulb for next year's flower

 

I usually cut my Daffs and Tulips back around the first week in June. Usually , as you , I cant wait any longer , this seems to work OK .

 

It would be interesting to cut half back, and leave half, to see if the "conventional wisdom" is overly conservative ...

I've known people cut them back at what seems to me to be relatively early, every year, and their's flower OK. But ... without a side-by-side test who knows if they would bulk up faster / have bigger flowers / fewer die each year etc. if they left them until the leaves were properly brown ...

 

My daffs are still green and now have more flower buds on them...

 

I always tie mine back about two weeks after the flowers die, following the system used by my Dad. The leaves do not break and I cannot say that my showing each spring is any better or worse than those who leave them to die down, plus, my garden looks tidier

 

Are those seed heads perhaps? If so you ought to "dead head" them, so that they can put their energy into the bulb, for next year's flower, rather than trying to make seeds.

Sorry, I didn't mean that the leaves would necessarily snap, but that the veins within the leaf would be damaged.

Here's the conventional wisdom:

Bloms Bulbs
http://www.blomsbulbs.com/growing/autumn/daffodils_faq

Should I cut back the Daffodil's foliage after flowering?

The simple answer is 'no'. If the foliage is cut any growth of the bulbs will cease and therefore impair next years flowering. Research has proved that the foliage should be allowed to remain for a minimum period of six weeks after flowering but for maximum results wait until it starts to turns yellow before removal.

To stop them looking untidy can I tie up the Daffodil's foliage?

Never tie up the foliage of your Daffodils after flowering. This will damage the foliage and cause premature dying back thus depriving the bulbs from the necessary nutrients.

RHS
http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=658

Defoliation: Leaves removed soon after flowering by mowing or when tidying up the garden can lead to blindness. As with dryness it prevents the bulb building up food reserves for the future
Knotting: Gardeners often tidy up clumps of daffodils after flowering by drawing the leaves together into a knot. This is not recommended as it reduces their ability to function and may cause or increase the risk of blindness
Seeding: Allowing seed capsules to form after flowering means that energy is diverted from the process of bulb rebuilding

 

I wouldn't dream of arguing against the experts at the RHS but tying them back seems to work for Val, it used to work for my Dad and it certainly works for me. We can only tell it as we see it, even if it does contradict the experts.

 

You would of thought so wouldn't you. It flowered this morning....

 

Yes, I know that it works, but I don't think it is good advice to give. How well does it work? Do you get flowers the following year? Yes, I'm sure you do - but could they be better? To know the answer to that means making an experiment - cut half of them back early every year for, say, 5 years and compare the result. In the absence of an experiment "It works for me" is a relative term but without a point of reference.

My expectation is that Daffs that are cut back early or tied up, year after year, will have more disease, more losses, more blind plants, fewer division and less impressive flowers. To a certain extent that isn't immediately apparent - you get flowers each year, they look OK, so all appears to be well. Some blind bulbs in and amongst don't show up much, and if the flowers could be bigger / brighter / taller would anyone notice? Dunno But if you had a side-by-side trial you'd be able to see the difference.

For someone who needs to get the area under control, or who has them planted somewhere which needs to look smart, then the answer is to do whatever you have to do.

But for someone who wants to know the best way to look after their Daffs, then I suggest leaving them alone until the leaves turn yellow. If you have to cut them down early then personally I would feed them (a good couple of weeks before chopping them down).

 

Even though my daffs bloomed earlier this year they are later dying back. I've usually cut them by the first week in June but another two weeks I think before that happens this year. I tied mine down up until about fifteen years ago but stopped the process and now find I have more blooms and less growing blind.

 

is it too late to give my daffs a feed ? i haven't cut them down but i have thinned out all the brown and yellow leaves just leaving the green leaves. i have some tomato feed knocking about somewhere im sure they'd benefit from it...if im not too late that is