After daffodils finish flowering, you deadhead the blooms, leave the leaves to die back naturally for about six weeks, then either leave the bulbs in the ground or lift and store them for replanting next autumn.

Quick Scoop

  • Snip off faded flowers (deadheading) so the plant does not waste energy making seeds.
  • Do not cut, braid, knot, or tie the green leaves; let them photosynthesize until they turn yellow and flop over, usually around six weeks.
  • Keep watering lightly and, if you like, add a balanced fertilizer around the clump while leaves are still green to feed next year’s blooms.
  • Once the foliage has yellowed, you can cut it off at ground level.
  • At that stage you can:
    • Leave the bulbs in the ground to naturalize and come back next spring, or
    • Lift them, dry and store them in a cool, airy place, then replant in autumn where you want next year’s display.

If they’re in beds or borders

  • Plant other perennials or annuals nearby so their fresh growth hides the fading daffodil leaves instead of cutting the foliage early.
  • You can overplant with summer bloomers (like dahlias or annuals) once the daffodil foliage has mostly died back.

If they’re in pots

  • Treat them the same: deadhead, keep the leaves until they yellow, then either sink the bulbs into a bed to naturalize or dry and store them for autumn replanting.

When to throw bulbs away

  • If clumps flower poorly even after good aftercare, they may be overcrowded, old, or weakened; you can either lift, divide, and replant only the firm, healthy bulbs, or discard and replace with fresh ones.

In short: don’t rush to tidy the green parts. The leaves are recharging the bulbs for next spring’s flowers.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.