Composing a Spring Bulb Garden

If you'd like to celebrate spring with a vivid display of flowers, fall is the time to get busy. Invest two hours planting bulbs on a beautiful fall afternoon, and you can enjoy a succession of blooms next spring that starts in late March and extends right into May.

Planting spring bulbs couldn't be easier. Dig a hole, stick the bulb in, and cover it up. Caring for these bulbs is easier yet. They don't need a thing! Once planted, they'll sleep all winter long, then emerge from the ground, form buds and start blooming.

The tricky part is selecting the right bulbs to ensure a long season of bloom. But even this is actually very easy. Here's how to do it:

Let's say you're willing to spend $90 on bulbs to fill a 3 ft. x 6 ft. area near the front of your house. Let's also assume that you don't have any other bulbs or plants there — it's a blank slate.

Start by taking a look at the list below. In each category, you'll find the types of bulbs that bloom during that period. Choose at least one or two types of bulb from each of the four categories to ensure you'll always have something in bloom. Though "early spring" might be late February in Virginia, and early April in Vermont, it doesn't really matter. The bulbs will bloom in succession, starting whenever winter ends.