If a tulip’s leaves are small, the bulbs may have to be dug up and divided. After several years, they often become crowded and starved for food.Daffodils and tulips are almost certain to bloom when another spring rolls around, but even they can have an occasional bad season.
Perennial bulbs need a long dormancy period after they finish flowering – a chance to regenerate. Without that, they’re likely to be colorless the following year, or what horticulturists call “blind” plants.
Even after the plants have finished blooming and dropping their petals, they are actively photosynthesizing, says Christian Curless, a spokesman for Colorblends, a wholesale bulb company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
“Leave them alone until the foliage is yellowed and withered,” Curless says. “A plant stays green as long as it needs to stay green.”
What are the odds they will continue to flower if you gamble and promptly clear those unsightly stems and leaves from your landscape?