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A question about flowers.
I don't know whether this is a silly question.
As it's my first spring gardening, I'm wondering what happens to the leaves of plants that have flowered, also do they need any tending to?
For instance, there was a cluster of snowdrops on which all the flowers have now finished and the leaves are left, will these die away? There are Primula and Daffodil all around the garden once the flowers start to finish do I need to do anything with them?
Also can I plant other things where they were without damaging the bulbs for next year?
I hope all that makes sense.
Cheers.
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The only silly question is the one you did not ask when you could have done.
The leaves on Spring bulbs are now feeding the bulb for next season so you should leave them alone. They will eventually with away and once they are dead, then you may remove them. It is usually recommended that you snip off any seed heads/dead flowers to save the plant from wasting energy.
Primula leaves last a lot longer, but same again, the plant needs them to feed itself.
Most of our Spring bulbs grow up through other plants, so as long as you are careful not to damage the bulbs when planting, then yes you can have other things in the same space.
Good question Jack - it shows you're getting the hang of this gardening thing
After bulbs have flowered the leaves continue to grow a for a while then die down - all the nutrients in the leaves go back into the bulbs to build them up for the next year. You can help this by giving them a bit of fertiliser just after flowering so those leaves build up lots of nutrition before dying back down.
And yes, when they've died down you need to remember or mark where they are, so that when you're planting you don't dig them up or damage them - plant around them, not on top of them.
Primulas aren't bulbs, but after flowering the leaves will continue to grow and the same principle applies - also the plants will get bigger and it is at this time you can divide them to create more plants if that's what you want. They will then die down for the winter and reappear again in the spring.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you very much Berghill. That's exactly what I needed to know.
Thank you Dove, what kind of fertiliser for this? I've had a great couple of days, putting compost and blood and bone around all the things I want to encourage. Maybe I am starting to get the hang of things, slightly
please could you tell me how to take the dead flower heads off my primulas do I take the whole head off or just remove the petals
Diane
I've just been pulling the whole head (stalk and all) off some of mine. Might encourage them to flower again - it doesn't really matter if you leave the stalk on, just looks a bit messier and might encourage mould. I twist and yank and keep a finger on the plant itself to stop it lifting out of the soil!