Question About Dead Daffodils? What To Do?

[Twitter]

I have several now "dead" daffodils in my yard.  Question:  Should I cut them OFF ....OR double them up with a rubber band so the "seeds" fall into the soil?  I have seen them doubled over before but wondered why since it is the bulbs that multiply???

[lavender]

Remove the flowers. If you let the plant set seed it will deplete the bulb. Daffodils multiply by making more bulbs and so you want the plant to direct its energies into producing more and larger bulbs rather than toward making seeds. The only reason to let a bulb make seed is if you are trying to make hybrids. 

You have probably seen them doubled over because someone was trying to make the foliage less conspicuous. Some people braid it for the same reason. You can't cut it off as it is needed to grow the bulb for next season but it does detract from the look of your garden far into the summer.

[Snickers]

I was wondering the same thing about my tulips. My landscaper put bulbs throughout my landscaping last fall. They were too spread out to practically cover them, so I knew they were going to get frosted. Do I just cut them off at the ground now?

[lavender]

Not at the ground. They need the foliage so they can grow and set a flower bud for next year. Remove the flower itself so the plant does not set seed. I don't think it could have gotten cold enough to kill the foliage. It didn't here. 

[Petee]

Don't let a flowering plant set seed unless you want it to spread.  If it's a bulb then snip off just the flower and it's stem.  Once the leaves are dead then chop to the ground.  The leaves are still providing food to the bulb as long as they are green.  It's actually getting the bulb "fat" and ready to flower next year.  You only braid or bundle leaves if you're bored and want to imtimidate the neighbors. :-)

[Twitter]

ha ha that's funny!!  Thanks for the tips!!!