Tulips. Do I cut their heads off or something?

[AnnieAreYouOkAreYouOkAnnie]

My lovely yellow tulips have turned orange, and are pretty much falling apart now.
Am I supposed to take the heads off?
Or just let them die off themselves?

TIA

[TuttiFrutti]

Let them die down naturally.

Are they in pots or in the earth?

You have 2 options: first is to dig up and throw away the bulbs (if in a pot) or just leave them if in the ground. You might get a second flowering next year, but smaller flowers. The second option is to let the leaves die down naturally, then "lift" the bulbs in June and store them somewhere before replanting in November.

[PrimulaVeris]

Ooohh, I do it a bit differently! When all petals have dropped, break off the seed head - otherwise bulb's energy goes into making new seed rather than staying in bulb. Leaves should die naturally within about 4-6 weeks.

I leave the bulbs undisturbed in ground. Never lifted them - they come up year after year after year ...

[AnnieAreYouOkAreYouOkAnnie]

Thank you both. They are in the ground. I would never have thought of digging the bulbs up! I think I'll do it your way PrimulaV, less work for me!

[TuttiFrutti]

It IS less work, and frankly I don't think I'll bother "lifting" bulbs after my experiment last year! It did work, but was more work than I anticipated.

You are lucky Primula if your tulips come up year after year, or maybe you just have better soil than me. I get 2 years if I'm lucky, rarely 3, after that it's game over.