Hiding Daffodil Foliage

The question that we are trying to answer in this article is, "What to do with the dead and dying daffodil foliage?"

Daffodil Foliage. The downside of having daffodils in landscaping and naturalized beds is the foliage after blooming. As we know, we don't cut back foliage, but let it die naturally; therefore, it has a stage that is undesirable to some.

This is the lower half of my front flower bed that starts the year with daffodils. Look closely at the iris and peony foliage still in the growth period to the left.

Why We Do Not Cut Back Foliage?

Daffodil foliage needs the sun to make and store energy this year for next year's flower. That concept is alien and hard to accept by some. However, if one follows the daffodil bulb growth, a dissected bulb clearly shows next year's flowers developed in this year's bulbs. It is for that reason that the theory of letting the foliage die back naturally is so strongly defended. Anything that might possibly interfere with the flower development is frowned upon.

Hiding Daffodil Foliage

Some gardeners, myself included, tolerate the foliage until it turns brown and can be cut back. Others hide the foliage by planting summer plants to complement them, and help block the foliage from view. There are many methods to help plan a bed that will provide growth and flowering plants from early spring to late fall, as well as provide cover for the daffodil foliage.

One way to hide foliage is to plant an "island" of low growing evergreen plants between the home and the beds or between the beds and the street to "hide" the daffodils during their "ugly" period.

Other methods of hiding foliage is to "braid" it to make it look more orderly. The New York Botanical Gardens, which has the third largest daffodil collection in America says to braid the foliage, while the American Daffodil Society generally states it is best not to do that.

As stated previously, I don't mind the foliage. However, my show beds are hidden at the back of our area by an island of azaleas, evergreens, dogwoods, and low growing thick bushes. By blooming time, not a "show bed" daffodil can be seen from the home or the road, just the naturalized and border grown varieties.

Front bed before the growing season.

In my front beds, I use another effective means of hiding daffodil foliage, and that is to over-plant with other flowers, or to mingle other flowers in the beds that will either hide, or partially hide the daffodil foliage. Daylilies, Siberian irises, oriental irises, and other late spring blooming flowers without a deep rooted, invasive root system are recommended.

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