Instead of planting the bulbs in a formal bed or border, you scatter them in irregular groupings across an area of lawn or meadow, or at a woodland edge. For the most natural effect, try not to plant bulbs in straight lines or discernible patterns. These bulbs flower early in the season and their foliage dies back fairly quickly. If you plant such bulbs in a lawn, don t mow until the foliage has yellowed and died back. At this point, the plant will have stored all the food it needs in the underground bulb to produce next year s bloom.
Most bulbs appreciate well-drained soil and sunlight.
Keep in mind, however, that bulbs that flower early in the spring will have bloomed and faded long before deciduous shrubs and trees have begun to leaf out. So treat think of spring-blooming bulbs much like spring wildflowers. A fairly open woodland setting or orchard makes an ideal setting, particularly for long-stemmed showy ones like daffodils and early tulips, which can be seen and admired even at a distance. Some bulbs need to be divided. For example, daffodils multiply enough to form dense clumps, which compromises the flowers.