Fortnight Lily (Dietes)
Question from Mari Jon:
Hello!
Intended to cut back dead leaves from the fortnight lilies. I pulled on some of them, and they came out easily. Is this an acceptable way of getting rid of the dead leaves, or must I cut them back near the base? Seems like I might be freeing up space for new leaves to grow by pulling out the dead ones.
Love your website and all your great knowledge.
Answer from Pat:
That’s fine to pull on leaves of fortnight lily and have them pull out easily. Great and easy way to clean up the plants. However, old, damaged eaves of fortnight lilies are usually tough and need to be cut off. Your experience sounds unusual and makes me wonder if something chewed them off or otherwise weakened the dead leaves at ground level.
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