Leave Daffodil Leaves

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - How warm has it been this spring? While I don't keep bloom records, I do clearly remember one recent year when my daffodil leaves were still hanging around by the Fourth of July! But this week I was already able to remove loads of daffodil leaves, because it's been so warm and they bloomed so much earlier than usual, they've had time to photosynthesize.

After the flowers are gone on your tulips and daffodils, it's sort of ugly and boring to look at all those green leaves dying back. But once you know that's how bulbs get their energy to put out pretty flowers next year, it's easier to take.

So, leave the leaves until they have a chance to turn sunlight into food for the bulb - when the leaves go from green to brown, you can remove them with a gentle tug, knowing your bulbs have had a good meal to help ensure a flower display next spring. And at least for this year, it's nice to have lots of the bulb leaves out of the garden already by Memorial Day.