Yes, that's quite true ... they will still need to grow all the way after Feb or March, when I will plant them. Last year this worked out fine - I put them in the 'fridge around Dec 13, and they went on to bloom - but, the year before was a total bust.

I have no idea why the bulbs 2 years ago all failed me. I don't think they froze in the 'fridge, so my best guess is that they were bad before I got them.

Pansies and violas sound lovely. To me, they are the kind of flower you really need to see close up. Whenever I see one, I wish I were the kind of person who drank my tea outside. On the To Do list I suppose.

In case it helps anyone else next year, I did some research, and ended up ordering seeds - and even with the research, I ended up making mistakes, such as accidentally ordering biennial forget-me-nots ... but anyhoo, I have started seeds for some lobelia, some dwarf penstemon, and some stock. (For whatever reason, no one seems to use "days to bloom" anymore - which is too bad, even if it was just an estimate. Personally I liked getting that information.)

The other thing I thought of, which may or may not work, is I'm going to throw on some grass seed when I plant the tulips. I haven't decided yet whether to transplant the lobelias etc. earlier on - or plop everything in there on top of the tulips, and cross my fingers. Either way, I am hoping the grass seeds will help it all look a little more pleasing.

If you only have those three packs of bulbs I’d just buy a few annual plants and put them round the tulips. For the small quantity of plants needed seed is a long winded and unreliable way of doing it and the plants may not coincide in bloom. I don’t know about your climate but in mine tulips are finished before lobelia or penstemon bloom. Depending on the type stocks, may be biennial and penstemons are perennial. You could use forget-me-nots, wallflowers, pansies or polyanthus.

Did the bulbs to years ago sprout at all? And then not flower? Or just nothing? I find Tulip folige in the winter tends to yellow and look pretty messy after the blooms are done. If you are putting something else in the pot to hide, it would need to be tall enough, and spread enough to hide that. I have some tulips that finished blooming about a week ago, and I am just holding the pot and keeping them alive enough to plant out when the snow here is gone. I'd love to see what you end up with.

midnightsmum - the big bulb order from a couple years back did not come up at all. I think they were bad bulbs. I've grown tulips before and they really aren't that difficult. Oh well. I agree tulip foliage is a bit of a hassle but usually I keep them around bc I hate to throw away plants. I have a bunch of last year's in a pot. They aren't blooming, and I may not keep them, but for now they get to stay. Maybe I'll just put them in the ground and see what happens. Probably nothing will happen, it's too hot here. Yours might naturalize. Maybe fertilize them, too?

floral_uk - you were right! The seedlings are growing very very slowly. It has been chilly. They won't make it in time to bloom with tulips, but, it's still fun to grow them from seed. I'll just have to start a lot sooner next time. Plus there's really not much room for them in the pots I have anyway. I'll probably just go with grass seed for fun.

Annual rye grass comes up fast and reliably and looks very appropriate with bulbs. If you plant it and keep it moist it should be up and looking good in 10 to 14 days if I remember correctly. Keep it cooler to keep it from bolting taller. I used to plant it around all my forced bulbs, but I haven't done it in a few years.

@daisychain I never thought of planting grass seed in a pot with tulip bulbs. I am sure it looked sweet at Easter time.

@need2seegreen - I have read this thread since the start and I too, was wondering what the final pot of tulips looked like when blooming unless they haven't yet bloomed. My tulips are just waking up now. i have one tulip that is left from a group planted years ago. I understand that different varieties bloom at different times. Did you plant johnnie jump ups? You will enjoy their cute little flowers if you did. Please share a photo if/when blooming.