That's a tough one, Kali. Do you have a lot of bulbs? Do you think you will get to making that extension in the spring and not this fall? Are you sure you won't be able to make that extension soon? Maybe you could do it late or early in the day and do it over the course of 4 or 5 days and do a little each day? I think you would be fine if you got it done before the ground freezes. And the weather is supposed to stay pretty cooperative at least for the next 10 days. Maybe some one can help you with it to make it take half the time?

But if you can't do that, I might consider just planning the rest of that extension for the spring and whatever other plants are going in aside from the bulbs and maybe add your bulbs to other parts of the current garden beds and allow them to add to the display there for the spring. If you do that, you can dig them all up after they bloom and move then to the extension.

I don't think planting them in wire baskets to dig up in the spring sounds very practical, but that is just me. I guess if I had a place to put potted bulbs that would be cool enough over the winter but not freeze, I might think of doing that. I don't have that kind of indoor area. If I had to do it here at my house, I might pot them up and sink them in my raised vegetable beds and dig them up in the spring and plant them that way. I don't know how much that helps, but good luck. :-)

How many do you have? You coild consider putting them in large containers (whiskey barrel pots, etc) and leave them out all winter. They will likely look very nice in large containers. Once they die back next spring, you can move them into a more permanent location.

Plant them in clumps in your current gardens and let them bloom and mature there next spring. When the foliage is dying back, either mark for later digging or just pop out the clump and move it to its new home if it is ready by then. I wouldn’t bother with baskets, and pots in winter can have moisture issues, and if we have a particularly bad winter cold can kill them IME. (Here I cannot plant any bulbs in pots successfully.)

And to be realistic, if you haven’t gotten the bed dug between when you bought the bulbs and now, what makes you think it will get done between now and spring bloom, since it is now cold and wet and the ground will be frozen or too wet to dig without ruining soil structure much of that time. Act as though the bed won’t be made until next season. If it gets done, then plant them in their new homes after next spring’s bloom or buy new bulbs next season to plant in the new bed. Tulips often don’t perennialize, and Scilla may not, so it may only be the daffodils you end up moving. Plant behind clumps of perennials so the emerging perennials hide the dying bulb foliage.

thanks everyone!
prairiemoon- hmm, I do have a large metal fire pit that I was thinking of converting to a pot. I'd use the sprays and laquers to make sure it stayed nice and didn't rust, of course drill lots of holes in the bottom and use appropriate soil medium. Maybe I could try that.
Jamie - i have approximately 200 I believe, they could look good in the "fire pit pot" or a current garden. unfortunately it's going to rain for the next week. if it dries up I'll be able to get outside and start but I'm not confident in that.
Babs- thank you for that info! do you think if I drilled enough holes in the "fire pit pot" drainage would be better? For the tulips I think I have some in my front garden that come back but it's hard to tell since I buy more each year. if I had to guess maybe a 50% survival rate due to our soggy winters. if the fire pit pot doesn't work I'll probably take your advice and just stick them in one of the other gardens and buy new ones for the extension.

Asarum, the problem in my garden with Scilla maay be that voles eat them. They do seed around but never seem to increase in number.

Kali, unless you are willing to lose the bulbs if we have a particularly cold or particularly wet winter, I wouldn’t plant in containers, but that is in my zone. See what those in your zone say. IME even plants rated to zone 3 don’t survive in containers here, such as Hosta and daffodils.

I have two arborvitae in pots all winter for the past 7 years. But I am in zone 6a and I found the rule that to have something survive in a pot all winter, it should be at least 2 zones hardier than the zone you are in. Which my arborvitaes are and it has worked for me. I'd check the hardiness zone of each type of bulb you hope to plant in a pot.

By the time you’ve sorted out the renovation of the fire pit you could have planted them in your current beds, as NHBabs suggested, and move them next year if you wish. Although personally, outside a formal Victorian style bedding scheme, I prefer my bulbs in clumps among other plants anyway, not in a separate bed. Scilla I wouldn’t put in a bed at all. I’d plant them in the lawn by hinging up a square of turf and putting the bulbs underneath. They look gorgeous in grass. 200 bulbs in clumps of ten won’t take long to plant. By clumping you don’t even need to dig individual holes.

Hi Kalin! Remember me?(lol) -- I just finished planting 26 containers of tulips and daffodils which will reside in my garage all winter. I have done this for several years, and it has always worked very well -- spectacular in the spring. I have never put potted bulbs outside here as I am certain they would not survive, and since my gardens are so crammed with other plants, adding bulbs is problematical for me.

I have planted some of my bulbs in a few spots after the bloom as I can see where there is space. Daffs are particularly forgiving -- one year, my son (who works at BrandeisU) came across thousands of daffodil bulbs that had been used on-campus and then dug up and thrown on the trash pile. They were free for the taking, and still sporting green leaves. He loaded the trunk of his car TWICE and brought them to me!! Since they had to ripen, I layered them, leaves sticking out, with soil into several wheelbarrows and there they sat until all had turned brown. I dug 4 long (2x12) trenches up by the road, and planted them, and the display has been lovely for several years. Tho I really ought to divide them next year and spread them about...

Good luck with your bulb planting, however you decide to do it!

That was quite a windfall of daff bulbs and I am impressed that you made use of it...four 12ft long trenches you had to dig? [g]. That is dedication!

I wondered if your garage is attached to the house or heated in any way? We have a detached garage and it has been too cold for me to do that. Just wondering if it makes a difference if the garage is attached to the house.

floral- ah I think my original post I didn't explain well. the garden extension will have lots of other plants, perennials, evergreens, shrubs etc. The other plants that will be added are currently hardy enough/old enough to survive in pots, the bulbs are mostly an accent for spring that will certainly be in clumps of like you've mentioned :)
I may end up just putting them in my other beds and dealing with bulbs for this part next season. but I did see this weekend is supposed to be really nice (well like 49 degrees and finally not raining lol), so maybe I'll be able to do it this weekend.
prairie - that's a good call about the hardiness zones, after a very quick Google search it looks like the daffodils are hardy to zone 3, and the tulips and scilla to zone 4 (I'll double check the packages when I get home though), so if I tuck the tulips and scilla in a warmer micro climate they might be ok if I can ensure proper drainage :)
Roxanna - of course I remember you! haha I even remember getting some of those extra daffodils, they are happily nestled in to my front garden, mixed in with other daffs and some day lilies. Wow that's quite a bit of work you had to do! keep in touch and be sure to post photos of your beautiful gardens!

prairie -- one side of my garage IS attached to the house, but it is definitely not heated. My potted bulbs have always come through fine. Other plants, not as well.

Kalin, if I had the least idea of how to post photos, I would! My tech skills are pretty much non-existent. Maybe when my grandson comes home for the holidays I could prevail upon him to teach me! I have really enjoyed your photos.

Haven't posted much in a few weeks because I've been crazy sick for 3 weeks, ugh. First I got a light flu, then right as that was ending I got hit with a nasty cold, and while I was sick with a cold I got a gross GI bug! Clearly this is not my winter. But I'm finally getting myself back into sorts, back at work today since I was out most this week, and back to garden maintenance. My sweet hubby refused to let me do any maintenance while I was sick, something about "I always push myself too hard and get sicker"...hmm lol.
But I FINALLY got around to converting my old fire pit to be suitable as a bulb pot. I had to clean it out and alternate different coating layers and drying time - but now it's all settled with the newly planted bulbs!