Spring flowering bulbs are beautiful in the garden but what do you do with them once they’ve finished flowering? It’s important to keep caring for your bulbs after flowering to ensure good flowering the following year.
What to do
- Remove dead flowers from bulbs but do not remove the leaves until they die down. The period after the end of flowering is when the bulb replenishes its reserves and sets the buds for the following year’s flowering.
- Fertilise after flowering and remove the leaves once they’ve turned brown. Bulbs which will go dormant after flowering and reliably reflower next year include: daffodils, jonquils, freesias, Spanish bluebells.
- Some bulbs are best treated as annuals because they originate from climates that are wet in winter and dry in summer, providing a dry “rest period”. So replant fresh bulbs of these varieties each year.
- Alternatively, bulbs can be lifted and dried to be replanted the following year, particularly in areas warmer than Melbourne. These bulbs include: tulips, ranunculus, anemones, hyacinths and Dutch iris.
- Store bulbs in a cool area under the house, not in the shed where they’ll cook. Make sure the bulbs are out of reach of rats.