This is a big deal with bulbs.  Most gardeners just pick the prettiest bulbs and plant them, ignoring their bloom times. That’s one reason the display is often lackluster.  Don’t do that.  Plan your choices based on when they bloom, not just your favorites. Because if you plan, you can have two or even three solid months of bulbs blooming in spring, and don’t worry, there are plenty of beauties from beginning to end.

You don’t need a lot of space, either.  Choose an area where you’ll enjoy the color, and first put in some big tall daffodils in a long drift near the back of your display bed. (Make the front of your drift free-form, not straight.)  Most all big daffodils bloom before tulips, so they’ll be your first color.  Enjoy them, and to keep things tidy, cut off the daffodil flowers when they’re gone, but leave the leaves…they have to die down to return next year.  Then plant various free-formed masses or “drifts” (not rows!) of tulips in front of the daffodils.  Maybe start with

Lily-Flowered Tulips Mix at the back (they’re tall, and they’ll bloom last—very late.)

Next put in some Single Late Tulips…single or double.

In front of those, put in lots of Darwin Hybrids, the “Perennial Tulips.”  They’re tall with the largest tulip flowers, and bloom in Mid-spring.  They make a spectacular display—tall, big and beautiful.

But don’t ignore the Triumph Tulips—they’re the real beauty queens of the tulip world.  The colors and bicolor of the Triumphs are the best of all. Get a mixture or buy several favorites and mix them up.  Triumphs bloom a little earlier than Darwin Hybrids and are usually shorter.

Then in the very front, put in a drift of Grape Hyacinths. They’re inexpensive, and very small bulbs…you can pop them in without hardly any digging, and plant them close—you’ll have a river of brilliant blue.  Next spring, just keep cutting off the dead flowers as each group finishes its show.  You’ll be amazed how long the dazzling display will last!  And this way, you’ll know your favorites of all types every year from now on.

Too much trouble?  OK, if you don’t want to bother picking your favorites from each part of the season, we’ve done the work for you.  Forget designing your successively blooming bulb garden, and just plant our 60 Days of Tulips Long-lasting Mix. It’ll work the same way.