Managing Your Spring Bulbs Post Flower

You see brown, yellow, wilted, gross. Your first thought is oh God, what have I done? It's not an oops, trust me. They're just dead.

Well, not really! As I'm sure everyone knows, the spring bulbs come and go in the blink of an eye. They are so packed full of energy, but it's only for one purpose - flowering. After this, the flowers die off [it's recommended that you dead-head them] and you're stucked with foliage that you just know is going to look horrible in three days.

The question is, 'what am I supposed to do with this?' My answer? Don't cut it. It really should be everyone's answer, but after a day at work, I realized it needed to be said again. You cannot cut the leaves off with the flowers. Your bulbs are depleted from flowering and will need time to recover from their ordeal. The remaining foliage will continue to photosynthesize until it dries up or is completely yellow. At this time, it will be appropriate to cut off.

Some people have summer bulbs that pop up to replace their spring flings, but I think this year I'll be relying mostly on annuals. That is, obviously, your choice. I'm just worried about your poor bulbs for this post. Please, don't cut them up just yet! You want big beautiful blooms for next year, let them make their own decisions for now.

This is not an actual bulb. For some reason, people don't post pictures of bulbs that aren't pretty, and since I'm in school, I can't get to my own. Besides, my garden never looks unhealthy. [Cough cough.] Anyways, this orchid is a pretty good example of plants not looking pretty. Your bulbs will look like this and still not be ready for cutting. Just let them be.