My all-time favorite bulbs are the miniature daffodils, tete-a-tete. Some I planted 20 years ago are still coming up without any food from me (although I do have nice soil from my composting phase). They're short enough that they don't bend over in the rain storms and (sometimes) snow we get at that time of year.

When I had hybrid tea roses, I planted crocus under and around them. After the crocus blooms, the foliage gets long and grassy and keeps the weeds from germinating before the roses leaf out.

I like Brent and Becky's bulbs for the unusual and special like the 'George P. Baker' corydalis.

Any USDA Zone 8 bulb should do fine for you if you select the right location.

I am rather surprised at your experience - most of the Puget Sound area tends to be a great bulb growing climate. Skagit Valley, with the bulb fields most definitely a zone 8, is the largest producer of spring flowering bulbs outside of the Netherlands.

I tend to prefer a lot of the so-called "lesser" bulbs - snowdrops, fritillarias, chionodoxa, erythronium, etc., but also have large clumps of naturalized crocuses, grape hyacinths and narcissus. I've even had pretty good results with returning regular hyacinths and tulips, neither of which perennialize especially well.

Nearly all bulbs require very good drainage. Other than that and a preference for summer dryness, you shouldn't have many restrictions on what should do well. A few summer flowering bulbs are not great performers here due to less than ideal summer heat and a need for overwinter protection but I can't think of any common spring bulbs that are problematic here.

Lostleaf, I'm also in the east foothills, cooler and wetter than much of Puget Sound. I have great luck with almost all spring flowering bulbs: crocus, tulips, hyacinths, iris, anemone. Daffodils will do okay for only a season or two: perhaps scavenged by squirrels?

If you want a lovely shade flowering spring bloomer, check out anemone nemorosa introduced to me by Elaine8 here at GW. It has rapidly become my favorite shade bloomer aside from Trillium.

Hmmm, I'm stumped. I planted hundreds and hundreds of bulbs succesfully in Michigan (stayed up too late with a bulb catalog and ordered too many), so it's hard to believe the problem would be that I am planting them incorrectly. But the tulips in Skagit are a great example and so I'm baffled.

Most often what is happening is that I get foliage but no bloom, although sometimes no foliage either. What I've used successfully are hyacinth, snowdrops, and anemone. What has been unsuccessful are tulips and daffodils.

I guess I will just have to pay more attention next year and see if I can observe any new clues.