We actually plant many bulbs 'in the green' - ie. as they are actually flowering, or just over...so as long as you can allow the foliage to die down naturally so the bulbs can recoup energy, they should be absolutely fine next season and subsequent years.

Doing that way should be fine for returning daffodils.

It seems that bed with tulips and daffodils was intended to be the early bloomers. What other plants do you have there? Other bulbs or annuals could fill out the area after daffodils are gone.

For future plans, I try to take photos of my bulbs in bloom so I can look up their location as needed and know where the gaps are. A small camouflaged stake would also serve as a marker. It's a whole lot less expensive to buy bulbs when they aren't in bloom.

I did take photos last Spring (with tape measurements as well) but did not feel up to it in the Fall to figure out what spots were considered vacant based on my photos. What if I planted bulbs now for NEXT spring. Is that not considered to be a good idea?

You can certainly plant out potted flowering bulbs now but its a very expensive way of doing it. Maybe you can find some faded ones which are on sale if you're only concerned with getting flowers next year.

If price is no object, then yes that way is fine. However, if you're OK that you're not getting flowers this spring, then bags of bulbs are still OK to do, too!

By the way, I don't know what other plants you have that will come up later, but bear in mind as you begin to dig in that area, that if you add other mid and late growing bulbs, you can have plants throughout the growing season.

I routinely plant a great many 10 litre pots with spring bulbs...but back in September when we buy them. Working as a jobbing gardener, for customers who want to see blooms all year (while minimising waste from traditional bedding out methods), I always have dozens of filled pots of tulips especially, to pop into gaps...and then simply remove and stash somewhere when they go over (and then it is time to do cannas, dahlias, lilies etc.. So, the long-winded point I am making is that yes, pots of bulbs are a terrific way of filling gaps or making instant (well-planned) displays.