How to Design With Tulips & Daffodil Bulbs

Plan your garden in fall, five to six weeks before the first frost. Daffodils and tulips do best with fall plantings and winter germination periods. Preparing in early fall also gives you warm, workable soil.

Set out the planting beds. Lay out central and border beds, and mark areas that get full sunshine or partial shade. Plant only in sites with quick drainage, as these bulbs rot in standing water.

Plant daffodils in the shady beds and tulips in full-sun beds. Choose thematic colors of tulips or many colors and patterns for varieties. Choose white or yellow daffodils in a variety of sizes. Choose early and mid-season tulip cultivars for continuous blooms and color throughout the season.

Amend the soil in all the beds down to a depth of 12 inches. Daffodil and tulip bulbs need deep, loose soil for root growth and drainage. Dig into the soil in the beds, loosen it and mix in 4 to 5 inches of organic compost for soil quality and moisture. Add bulb fertilizer or bone marrow for additional nutrition.

Plant the bulbs 4 to 6 inches deep, depending on bulb size, with pointed ends facing up. Give each bulb 3 inches of space. Plant larger and taller cultivars to the back of the beds, or along the borders, with smaller cultivars in the front for graduated growing.

Leave the bulbs for the winter. They begin their root growth immediately and last through freezing temperatures for spring blooms.