Hi,

Sounds like they could be overcrowded. You can dig up and seperate as soon as the foliage dies back (yellows) on the bulbs.

Jen

Don't know if this applies in your situation, but if you cut back the foliage before it dies back naturally, they won't bloom the next year. My dad had the same problem because he was mowed back the foliage while it was still green.

If you can't stand the bed's untidy appearance while the foliage goes limp and dies back, try this. Gather all the leaf fronds from a single plant, leave out two long ones on the outside, bundle all the rest neatly in your hand and tie them together with those two long fronds.

Also, when you dig up your bed to divide them, you may want to try putting a ground cover over the bed after you replant it. In Georgia, Georgia blue veronica works nicely and puts color there long after the spring bulbs are done.

Bulbs need foliage for photosynthesis in order to feed the bulbs for the following blooming season. All bulb growers advise against tieing or braiding or cutting down the foliage before they fade so that it receives the most sunlight through the growing season.

If you can't stand the look, you can plant perennials to hide it. I planted all kinds of other flowers & leaves to draw attention away from the so called untidy spring bulbs.

Perhaps they need more sun?

I trimmed back an overgrown hedge over the winter. There are some daffodils underneath that hadn't bloomed for 3+ years, but they sure bloomed gloriously this year.

They are in a spot close to where I have just planted other bulbs that are blooming happily. I didn't touch their foliage, as other stuff fills in the surrounding area, and we can't really see it after mid May.

Do I fertilize when I divide? (Usually I use bonemeal for my bulbs accd. to package directions.)

-R. C.