If there is still green on the leaves you need to leave them so they can take in energy for next yr.. I would wait till they die back..IMHO

Kylie

Yeah, bummer, can I at least cut off the seedpods?

It would put the energy back into the plant instead of the seed pods.. sooo yeah????

WooHoo!

I gather the leaves together then bend them in half and tie them with twine. It's still a bunch of ugly leaves but it looks much tidier. This works especially well with daffs.

^@karyn1

Bending/wrapping the leaves prevents light from getting to the full leaf. Leaves naturally position themselves to maximize their exposure to light (which is why plants bend towards light) and moving them around inhibits that.

Wrapping up leaves will cause them to die faster (the plant realizes it's not getting any light so why keep the leaves around?) and also reduces their effectiveness.

If you have your bulbs in a really ideal location and they are coming back strong every year or multiplying, they can take the hit of losing some of their energy-gathering capacity. For example, grape hyacinths are so prolific and hardy that you can practically do whatever you want and it won't hurt them. But otherwise, binding, braiding or wrapping up the leaves will cause your bulbs to slowly decline over the years.

I think the best strategy for dealing with ratty-looking bulb leaves in late spring and early summer is to plant other plants around them to distract your eye from the fading spring bulbs, or block them from view.