I can just make out the daffs. They look rather too shallowly planted to me. Are all the bulbs going to be 2-3 times their own height under the ground when you have filled the bed in? Or do you have another row of blocks still to add?

Hi floral, good question! In my experience, I plant slightly more shallow than suggested as I have clay based soil. The one year I planted a good half foot down (3x), they never came up as they were unable to push through the heavy soil (I dug down and found them trying hard but not making it). The ones planted 3-4 inches, came up and multiplied every year.

It is hard to see depth by this picture, but the hole is actually deeper than the blocks with it getting deeper towards the middle. Locally, there are pits where the persica are sitting; they are such monstrous bulbs, you can't tell!

Once I replaced the soil (amended with shredded leaves - I'll fertilize to supplement N), I also heaped shredded leaves followed by a light dressing of shredded hardwood mulch so if you include these (I totally do!), then I probably have just hit the 2x Mark for the daffodils & hyacinth on the outer rim.

My biggest concern are the eremurus and persica. I don't know how much sand and grit is enough or too much under them. I went with an abundance.

Thanks Campanula, I went with the "mix" as this is an grand experiment for both fritts and eremurus. If they "behave" i.e. come back in year two, I might expand and branch out.

I ran out of steam/sunlight today so I still have 10 cammasia (also a grand experiment) and 100 out of 500 tommies (also new to me).

This spring might be spectacular or ..... the same as last year. Haha! I can already see the tips of established daffodils coming up so no change will still be fine. :)

Next year I will be ordering trout lillies - I just discovered the wondrous Ian Young's blog and am heartsick all stock seems to be sold out for the year. I have just the useless bit of grass with dappled shade that needs to be converted (laughs evilly).

I can't wait to see how this turns out next year! I have three Eremurus bungei that return reliably, but are in too much shade so I don't get as much of a flower show as I think they're capable of. Your new bed looks like it will get some nice sunshine.
I've got naturally sandy soil so I didn't do anything special in the way of soil prep. Just planted them quickly and carefully, and waited a few years. I'm curious to see if yours will come on quicker having different conditions than mine. Good luck with yours. I hope we get to see pics.

Yes! erythroniums have been my biggest and best success, already making good colonies with vigorous, multi-flowered stems. Only the basic 'Pagoda' and e,californicum 'White Beauty'. Previously only grown at home with dismal results but in the woods, they are spectacular. Camassias also proved to be great naturalisers - the jury is still out on mole and vole predation though - this year (when I planted none) should be telling. Wood anemones, which I planted in my first year in the woods, are just beginning to bear fruit - they seemed to take ages to get going but I am keen to order more named varieties, especially the steel blue 'Allenii'.

Getting hooked into the Scottish Rock Gardening club then? There are some incredible gardeners there (see the meconopsis group and sigh). My step-mother has been trying to tempt us to move to Scotland (she lives just outside Fort William)...but not even blue poppies and primula could overcome the weather, the food, the hilly inaccessibility (for this non-driver).

I can't wait for more pictures!! I haven't been brave enough to try the eremus, but wow! When you see them in bloom it's an amazing sight.

Well, brave or foolhardy. :) if they don't rot, I'll definitely post pictures.

Erythroniums (trout lillies) are just gorgeous. I don't know if they will tolerate my climate, but I'm sure willing to try. Seems like the places with the best selections are in the UK - you're so lucky!!

I thought Ian Young was the top gardener at a small private garden. Took me a while to realize something that fabulous surrounds his personal home. ::sigh::

I'm trying NOT to get hooked on the SRG society, but I bet in the middle of winter I might crumble and click on that forum link he keeps posting. I don't need to crave more plants!!

I don't even want to get started on what a terrible influence that bulb log is. I used to be happy with just a few dozen daffodils, now I dream about Siberian aconites and Lithuanian corydalis :)

I'm down to replanting daffodils, a few garlic heads, and a bag of tulips which I dug in July. All the purchased stuff is in, and before anyone gets too impressed I just want to say my bed prep was just about a thousand times less careful than posie's! I pretty much just dug holes in the lawn, threw a few tulips in, and then flipped the turf on top with the grass side down. In theory I will cover and kill the lawn with mulch by the time things are looking nice in May, that might be a long shot.

Katob, I've already started scoping corydalis and erythroniums for next year. So far, Odyssey bulbs seems to have the variety and pricing. If I mix with helebores and maybe hardy geraniums for summer cover/interest, I think I can pull it off. I have an area of useless grass (I.e. kids aren't playing on it) that I use about 10x 6.

Ian Young is all about seed raised plants, but I don't have 5 years to wait for blooms. However, I'm really loving the progression of season with the ground completely covered. I have my front garden that is proudly spaced and well mulched so I think it's time to have a bit of a wild garden, right?

Five years may sound like a lot but before you know it they're flowering! I have a few things coming along, some things like certain lilies can bloom in just a little over a year or two after sowing so it's not all a lifetime investment... but don't get me wrong, I still have a weak clicking finger when it comes to those late nights on those tempting bulb websites.

Your idea sounds great. I'm trying to move my garden into more beds which you can walk through rather than lawn surrounded by beds. The kids still want enough lawn for a kickball field though :)

I did take the back part of the lawn and made it into a bulb meadow. It's been fun seeing what does well and naturalizes... less fun seeing what does not do well. I only mow it after the daisies, butterfly weed and rudbeckia are finished in August so that gives all the bulbs plenty of time to go dormant. You can probably guess mine is full sun.

That bulb meadow sounds amazing. I'm curious what does and doesn't do well. I love wild areas with the different textures/colors of grasses, natives and weeds all playing together. I bet your bulb area has a great progression/change each summer.

crocus and colchicums do well, although the rabbits eat most of the crocus flowers and I'm too lazy to deny them their spring tonic. I'll have to see this spring how the anemone blanda, tulip clusinia and grape hyacinths are doing. It's kind of a thin heavy soil but dichelostemma have been doing well, even if they don't multiply much.

'pink diamond' dichelostemma. I feel kind of proud of myself every time I spell that correctly.

They look lovely - I've never heard of them before!