Daffodils (Narcissus spp.) are much-welcomed heralds of spring when they first open their yellow or apricot cups, but they wear out their welcome with many gardeners as the blooms fade. Hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3b through 10, daffodils rise from bulbs to bloom on stalks up to 2 feet tall surrounded by clumps of foliage up to 18 inches tall, depending on the cultivar. Neat-freak gardeners need to fight back the urge to lop off those strands of floppy daffodil foliage as flowers fades or risk having sparse or no blooms next year.
A dying daffodil flower is not a pretty sight. Its shape collapses like soggy tissue paper, turning brown and eventually sliding off the top of the stem to leave a rounded bulb that ripens into a seedpod if the flower was fertilized. The stem also turns yellow and mushy from the top down. Daffodil flowers and stems can be clipped immediately after they fade, or even while the flowers are still in bloom if you want a bouquet. The deadheading process helps to build stronger bulbs for next year because the plants don't expend energy on seed formation. By cutting daffodils throughout the bloom season, you may even increase the length of time your bulbs bloom by up to two weeks, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension's website.
The foliage of the daffodil -- or any bulb -- needs to be left as-is for about six weeks to manufacture food through photosynthesis to replenish the bulb for next year's growth. Impatient gardeners eager for the main spring flower display have tied back, braided or even buried foliage that they knew they shouldn't cut, but these half steps impede photosynthesis and decreases future blooming. Instead, the American Daffodil Society, on its website, advises cutting foliage only after it begins to yellow. The color change is an indication that the foliage completed its work and the bulbs are ready for next year. Cut the yellow foliage at its base. If you really can't stand the foliage or just want to leave it in place even after it yellows, interplant daffodils with perennials timed to grow with daffodils or just after they fade to screen the dying foliage.
Daffodils can rebloom happily for years in containers if they receive the proper aftercare. Much like in-ground daffodils, they, too, need six weeks of natural sunlight and rain and a light scattering of low-nitrogen, 5-10-10 fertilizer to build stores for next season. With potted bulbs you also have the option of moving the pots out of sight during the dying-back period if you want to swap out conspicuous planters with something bright for late spring. No matter where your daffodil pots are sited, tip them on their sides after six weeks to keep water out, and store them out of the way until bringing them back out in late fall.
Even if you don't stress about fading foliage, daffodils have one additional task for to undertake every three to 10 years, depending on how closely you spaced the bulbs. That task is division. When foliage becomes crowded and the number and size of blooms decrease, wait for foliage to yellow, and then dig up the entire daffodil patch. Dig around each daffodil clump with a spade to avoid cutting into bulbs, and then lift the clumps with a garden fork to avoid damaging them. After the loose soil is removed from the bulbs, let them dry out of sunlight for several weeks before separating and replanting them. Remove all bulbs that are rotted or too small.
- University of Florida IFAS Extension: Narcissus Spp. Daffodil, Narcissus
- Oregon State University Extension Northwest Gardener: Daffodils -- Deadheading
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Spring-Flowering Bulbs
- American Daffodil Society: Blooming Daffodils
- American Daffodil Society: Growing Daffodils in Pots
- University of Tennessee Gardens: Plant of the Month for March -- Daffodil
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