Daffodil maintenance

Of all the flowers in my garden I really enjoy daffodils -- it the first true sign that spring is on the way and a lovely splash of yellow really lifts a rather brown and drab garden.

Sadly the season is all too short and these fabulous blooms start to sag and die. Their finally flourish of colour turning to a deeper yellow with the texture of tissue paper.

I'm not sure what happens next....do I dead head the blooms as I go, or leave them as is.  Pulling on my schoolboy knowledge of gardening I seem to recall my grandfather telling me that you let the daffodils die back completely before finally removing the withered leaves.

I had a quick google to check my facts -- everyone agrees that you allow the leaves to die for a good six weeks, however there is conflicting advice on dead heading the flowers.  Yes, you should do it to give the bulb maximum food for next year, but some say pull the flower stem at the base, others nip it at the top.

In the end I stuck to the advice from the Daffodil Society, who say ...."Remove all dead flowers by nipping off at the neck, behind the seedpod."

My main display is looking a little tired now but it was lovely for a few weeks....

Daffodils in their finally flurry