forget me not and daffodils - now what?!

Over the last few weeks I have had a lovely display of forget me nots - they are now dying off and looking a bit sorry for themselves - what do I do now? Do I just let them die down, cut them back (if so how drastically) or do nothing as they will flower again (or am I hoping too much on that one!)

Also, the leaves from my daffs are lying flat on the ground - can I cut them off now or do I have to wait for them to totally rot away?

As you can tell - I'm a complete novice at this - had a cactus once - but not for long :eek: !!

Thanks

 

I pull all the forget me nots out, and give them a shake as I am doing it. They seed all over the place usually. Once you have them in the garden, they always spring up somewhere.

The daffodils should really be left to wither, as that is what feeds the bulbs for next year.

 

I found this on the BBC site :-

"During winter, forget-me-nots look like undistinguished leafy rosettes, sometimes discoloured by hard weather. But as spring advances, they turn into a carpet of rich blue, or white and pink in some varieties, that form the perfect background to wallflowers and tulips. 'Blue Ball' is a particularly neat variety that also succeeds as formal edging to paths and beds, and in tubs and other containers. In borders they may be left to grow and seed themselves freely, but bedding is discarded, although plants can be shaken to scatter seeds first."

I tended to leave mine as I did not want to lose them and they are later covered by bigger plants. But I think it does not matter - whatever looks tidiest. As Summergardener says once you've got'em, you've got'em.

 

Providing the leaf tips are starting to go brown, if your daffs are really untidy and the floppy green part of the leaves are starting to rot you can reduce their lenght to 1/2 or 1/3 and they will perk up and do more good feeding the bulb than rotting on the ground.

As has been said, it really is better to leave them if you can and tie to some support canes but it's not always possible, especially if you have hundreds of them that have been naturalised. Deadheading is a must though if you want good strong bulbs to flower next year.

Forget-me-nots are annuals and if they are pulled up once they start to go wayward you can let some of the more mature ones dry on some sheets of old newspaper and collect the seed then broadcast it where you want them for next year. Normally though it's not necessary to do this as they self seed readily and once you have them they will not forget you. (groan) :D

 

Thanks everyone - am off to pull up the forget me not and cut back the daffs - that should tidy it up a bit!