Daffodil Foliage: Time Required For Ripening Varies

Q: I've heard that daffodil foliage can be cut off two weeks after bloom, is this true?

A: You would think that since daffodils (also called narcissus) have been grown in gardens for at least 500 years, there would be some concurrence on this question. Opinions I located varied from "one month after bloom" to "wait until daffodil foliage is brown." Do not braid, macrame, fold over with rubber bands, or otherwise annoy the foliage while it is ripening.

The Washington Bulb Company, located in the Skagit Valley, prefers to let daffodil foliage in its fields die down completely, according to bulb expert Richard Roozen. He noted that this can help the bulbs regenerate and bloom better next year. He said that he would, if choosing to remove foliage before full browning, give the foliage at least eight weeks after bloom.

The Netherlands Bulb Commission concluded after doing research in the late 1980s that daffodil foliage is sufficiently ripened and can be cut back after six weeks. Perhaps they mean six sunny weeks? (Unlikely here!) However, for local information, I would go with the Skagit Valley producers.

In my own garden, I trim the foliage of narcissus when it may still be a bit green but has flopped onto the ground and some leaves are showing a yellow tinge. I've had good re-bloom on many bulbs in subsequent years. (Particularly with cultivars named Ice Follies, Pipit, Quail, Accent and February Gold.)

If you are looking for a narcissus to naturalize, Roozen said February Gold is one of his favorites and has formed a carpet in his garden. This bulb is an early, long-blooming, deep yellow daffodil.

Late-blooming narcissus such as Cheerfulness and Geranium were still in flower during the third week in May, so that foliage needs another eight weeks to ripen. Ripening depends on when bloom finishes. Roozen added that ripening could occur as late as the end of June. Holding on until daffodil foliage gets brown will often mean having a longer wait than most gardeners want, even though it's advisable. I have seen green daffodil leaves on the Fourth of July because the generally cool springs here in Western Washington keep them alive for months.

And what about other spring-blooming bulbs? Crocus bulb foliage has turned straw-colored and dry, and can be pulled out gently any time now. Scilla (Hyacinthoides hispanica and H. non-scripta) produces bushels of sloppy green leaves that can be pulled out while they are still green. Scilla (hyacinth) doesn't discourage easily and the plants don't seem to mind early removal. Some gardeners consider them pests at the dying-down stage when the leaves revert to mush, but trimming them off works fine.

Tulips must be allowed to go completely brown. Several gardeners I know plant tulips in plastic pots, sink them in the ground for display, and pull out the pots after bloom. The fading tulips diminish in a sunny spot away from the most visible parts of the garden.

Tulips that return best year after year are the smaller species tulips, the botanicals such as T. tarda and T. saxatilis. If planted in a sunny, well-drained area and given no extra summer water, they will multiply nicely. Larger hybrids such as the Darwin tulips look best in their first year and should be treated as annuals for the strongest show, though they will provide smaller flowers in second and third years.

Strange as the concept may seem, Memorial Day weekend is a good time to get all the new bulb catalogs out and plan your fall hardy bulb orders. Marketers sensibly send out catalogs during spring when the thought of "tulips" or "crocus" chimes with what gardeners are seeing. But we toss those catalogs into a pile and ignore them until late summer when we can't recall which sections of the garden would be glorious with a few more spring-blooming bulbs. Some catalogs offer discounts for early orders. So snatch up those catalogs and ponder spring this weekend, even while we are officially celebrating the first holiday of the summer season.

Gardening runs Sunday in Home/Real Estate. It is prepared by Mary Robson, area horticulture agent, Washington State University/King County Cooperative Extension.