Is it okay to cut down lilies now?

Question

I have several asiatic lilies that have already finished flowering for the year. Rabbits or some other pests have eaten a lot of the leaves off the stems. Usually I wait until fall to cut them down but they look really bad right now because of the pest damage. Can I cut down the ugly stems now and still have them come back next year?

Answer 1

It is best to cut them AFTER the foliage has withered and turned brown. The bulbs reabsorb the nutrients from the leaves for next year's flowers. If you cut them too soon, you will not have flowers next year.

Answer 2

now is a good time to find a potted plant of nice tall leaves to put there..... if the bunnies have left leaves on the stalks halfway up, you could cut them down by half... but there must be leaves left to finish makeing the next year's food reserve!!.... so if they ate all the bottom leaves off, then you gotta wait for the top ones to go brown before you can cut down the stems..... I keep pots of tall grasses handy for this occasion!.....

Answer 3

I was told by my neighbor who helped me with my garden to wait until the end of the season. So I would wait. Asiatics are so pretty, I have some in my garden, too bad they bloom and fall off. :(

Answer 4

No, leave them the heat will kill the plants ,the dead leaves will act is mulch and also protect the roots in a dry spell , wait until late Summer to clean up, just cut off the dead flowers for now.

Answer 5

Regardless of how they look leave the greenery. Like Daffodils this will help with the bulbs multiplying and blooming next year.

Cutting them down without letting them go dormant naturally could result in bulb loss, no flowers or less flowering next year.

Hope this helps.