You can cut the stalk off all the way to the ground with no problem if you want - it won't hurt the bulb; the work of bulb-strengthening for summer blooming is done by the leaves in the spring before they die back. But, some people like to leave the seeds to develop, as they germinate very easily and help increase the size of your clump faster than if you just depend on the bulbs to multiply. However, there's another "but" - if you leave the seeds on, five years from now, Naked Ladies will be blooming all over in places you never planted them - the seeds seem to magically get into every nook and cranny. So, whether you cut the stalk off or not depends on what you want to accomplish/avoid. :)

- Steve

Thank you for the reply. Answers my question perfectly :-)

Is there some way to collect the seeds before they naturally drop? That way I could possibly "plant" them were I want them?

Janet

Well I guess I don't have to worry about it now.
Last night we had a storm with high winds and this morning I found the NL stem snapped and bent over.
I cut it off even with the ground. I did put the top part with the seed pods in a drying box. I don't know if they'll ripen any more now or not, but thought I'd try and see what happens.

Thanks again Steve for your replies.

Janet

Thanks for this conversation! I’m about to try capturing seeds from about 10-15 NL stalks and try to transplant/grow them in a new yard. I transplanted the bulbs over a year ago and the leaves appeared this spring but no stalks.

Will naked ladies grow from the seeds in pod?

From my expereince, the Ladies don't bloom the first year after planating the bulb. And they definitely need a lot of sunshine to produce the leaves that will give the enegy to make the flowers. Be patient!