What Should I Do With My Bulbs After They Bloom?

A No-Nonsense Guide to Spring Bulb Aftercare (That Actually Works in Ontario)

After your beautiful bulbs bloom, learn what's next.

Spring bulbs are the showstoppers of the early garden. After months of dull, grey landscapes, they burst out of the ground with colour and joy — tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses — all doing their thing without asking much in return.

But then it happens: the flowers fade, the leaves flop, and you’re left wondering… Now what?

Do you cut them back? Dig them up? Feed them? Ignore them?

Let’s walk through simple, effective aftercare — with a few myth-busting tips and fun facts thrown in — so your bulbs keep blooming year after year, without wasting your time or money.

1. First Things First: Deadhead Those Blooms

Once your spring bulbs finish flowering, the most important thing you can do is deadhead — remove the spent flowers before they go to seed.

Why?

Because seed production is exhausting for the plant. If you let it happen, all that valuable energy goes into making seeds instead of returning to the bulb — which weakens next year’s performance.

Just snap or snip off the flower head. I usually go a step further and remove the entire stalk while I’m at it. It looks cleaner, and there’s no thick, drying stem sticking up awkwardly among the foliage. Snap it off at the base — done.

This is a great little meditative task to do in the garden with your morning coffee. You’ll feel good knowing you’re helping the plant recharge for next year.

Foliage is crucial for next year's blooms

2. Leave the Leaves — Let Them Recharge the Bulb

The number one mistake I see people make with bulbs? Cutting the leaves down too soon.

I get it — the flowers are gone, the leaves look messy, and you just want your garden to look tidy again. But those green leaves are doing very important work. They’re photosynthesizing, sending energy back into the bulb to power up next year’s blooms.

How long should you leave them?

Until they’re about 75% yellow or straw-like. At that point, give them a gentle tug — if the leaf easily detaches, the plant is done and you can clean it up.

Pro tip:

With tulips especially, I sometimes step lightly on the soil next to the base of the leaf and then gently pull — it helps stabilize the bulb so you don’t accidentally yank it out with the leaf. If it’s ready, it’ll release on its own.

3. The Truth About Fertilizing — Skip the Bone Meal

Bonemeal- Why you shouldn't use is in you live in North Eastern North America

Here’s where we bust a big myth.

Every gardening book and website seems to say, “Add bone meal!” when it comes to bulbs. But in Ontario — and really, anywhere across central to eastern Canada — that advice is outdated and unnecessary.

Our soils are already naturally rich in phosphorus, the main nutrient bone meal supplies. In fact, we have millions of years’ worth of phosphorus built right into our soil geology. Adding more not only wastes your money — it can actually contribute to phosphorus runoff, which damages local waterways.

So skip the bone meal.

If you want to do something good for your soil and your bulbs, use compost. A top dressing of well-aged compost helps with soil texture, moisture retention, microbial life, and adds a gentle dose of nutrients. It’s nature’s fertilizer, and it's all you need.

4. What About the Tiny Bulbs?

Muscari and other Small Bullbs

Small bulbs — like muscari (grape hyacinths), snowdrops, scilla, and crocuses — are usually too small to fuss with. I don’t deadhead them at all.

They tend to naturalize beautifully, especially in woodland edges, rock gardens, and borders. Just leave the foliage until it’s yellow and easy to pull away. That’s it.

These early risers often go dormant before the rest of the garden even gets going, so they won’t get in the way of your summer planting.

5. Will My Bulbs Come Back Next Year? Depends on the Bulb.

Let’s talk longevity.

Daffodils:

These are the tried-and-true perennial champs. Plant them once and they’ll often bloom for decades, multiplying along the way. They’re basically the golden retrievers of the bulb world — loyal, cheerful, and easy to love.

Tulips:

Gorgeous? Absolutely. Long-lasting? Not really.

Most modern tulips are what we call “short-lived perennials.” They bloom beautifully for the first 2–3 years, then start fading. The blooms get smaller, the growth uneven, and eventually they just stop showing up. Don’t take it personally — they’re just not built for the long haul.

In fact, in many gardens, we treat tulips as annuals — replanting fresh bulbs every few years for the biggest impact.

Fun fact:

In the 1600s, tulips were so valuable in the Netherlands that one single bulb could cost more than a house. This period, known as Tulip Mania, was the world’s first economic bubble!

Hyacinths & Others:

Hyacinths may come back for a few years, but like tulips, they tend to fade. Alliums and fritillaria tend to be more perennial, depending on the variety.

6. Want to Move or Divide Your Bulbs? Here’s When

Once the foliage has died back completely and the plant is fully dormant, you can dig up your bulbs if you need to move or divide them.

Gently lift them with a garden fork, separate any offsets (baby bulbs), and replant them right away or store them in a cool, dry place for fall replanting. If you’re not planning on moving them, leave them be — they’re perfectly fine right where they are.

When the patch is too big, divide it!

Wrapping It All Up: Let the Bulbs Tell You What They Need

If you remember nothing else, remember this:

Deadhead the blooms. Leave the leaves. Skip the bone meal. Let the bulbs guide the rest.

Spring bulbs don’t need a ton of maintenance — just a bit of thoughtful care after they bloom. When you work with their natural rhythm instead of trying to rush the cleanup, you’ll get better blooms and a healthier garden for years to come.

Need help with bulb care, naturalizing ideas, or garden design?

I’ve got you covered — reach out any time, and we’ll bring some spring magic to your garden that keeps coming back.

Check out my other blod posts to get the establishment from your yard and your plants!