Purchasing bulbs can be as easy as a quick trip to any local garden center.  Higher quality bulbs can be purchased online in advance and shipped to you when your Zone is ready for planting.  I’ve found that these companies have the time frame dialed in and there’s nothing to worry about.  Each bulb will have a different planting depth, soil, and sun, or shade requirement. Each fully grown plant will take up different amounts of space and will grow to different heights.  Even something marked as Spring Blooming can be early, mid, or late Spring. And of course, the colors are almost endless. Some thrive in the blistering heat of the afternoon, others like filtered shade, and some only want morning sun.  That’s a lot to think about when you won’t see full blooms for months! But once you’ve been through a season or two with your yard, placing bulbs the next year becomes a lot easier to figure out. 

Here is where the planning comes into play.  My system is to look online at the beautiful flowers and see if the required environment will fit in my yard, and where they might go. Seriously, I am a glutton for flower porn! I can fantasize about the season ahead and how I want the yard to look.  I think about the color and the size of the plant. and if they’ll be going in an area that is already landscaped.  I have one part of the yard that is all purple and white and nothing else outside of that color scheme is allowed to grow there. Because I built a Tiki Bar and couldn’t part with it, that section of the yard has to have tropical plants.  My front yard is brightly colored, and the side yard will someday resemble an English Country Garden full of pastel prettiness. Since I can’t decide on one theme, I have several, which adds to the diversity of the garden.