Daily gardening tip · Southern hemisphere · Monday 2 November 2026
Prune Faded Bulb Foliage Only After It Yellows
Trimming back bulb foliage at the right moment ensures healthy growth and bigger blooms next year.
15 minuteseasypruning
Inspect your bulbs to see if the flower heads have finished and the foliage is yellowing.
Snip off dead flower heads near the base of the stalk using clean secateurs.
Leave green leaves untouched so they can continue absorbing sunlight.
Cut yellow or brown leaves back to ground level once they have completely withered.
Why it works
Green bulb leaves act like solar panels, manufacturing food through photosynthesis and storing that energy in the bulb below ground for the next flowering cycle. Cutting leaves while they are still green starves the bulb, whereas removing dead flower heads prevents the plant from wasting energy on seed production.
A tender perennial subshrub with small, fleshy, velvety green leaves and sprawling stems. It produces airy, tubular lilac-blue flowers held on thin stalks above the dense foliage
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