By Rebecca Broyles

They’re only a few oddly shaped lumps wrapped in what looks like brown tissue paper — you can balance them on your open palm. Who would think you’re holding a miracle of spring?

These are the bulbs and corms that metamorphose into achingly fragrant hyacinths, exuberant crocuses, bright tulips with their Easter egg colors and shapes, and Wordsworth’s golden daffodils “fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

Since you order them over the next few weeks and plant in September, they definitely don’t provide instant gratification. Still, come February or March when it’s been months since you’ve done anything in the yard, their sudden beauty will make you feel as though you’ve been given something for nothing.
There’s a lot of information about bulbs — way too much for beginners. Sidestep it all by starting simply. You’ll be delighted with any or all of these four:

Crocuses — Irresistibly cheerful, they will delight you by popping into bloom one mild February day. With their low-growing yellow, white, blue and purple flowers, they are especially charming en masse swirling around trees, carpeting the lawn or walkway edge, or spilling down a bank.

When you plant in the fall, nestle them in open sunny spots and under the edges of deciduous trees. Since the trees won’t have leafed out when crocuses are in full cry, enough sun can shine on the slim grassy foliage for it to manufacture food. Don’t plant beneath evergreens, however, because too much shade will make for a flimsy showing next year.

Set the corms 2 to 3 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart. For a completely random look, scatter them by handfuls and plant them where they fall.

Daffodils — Long-blooming, long-lived and easy, they give great value. Do you think of them as basic yellow flowers that open sometime around Easter? Once you start roaming through the catalogs, you may lose yourself for hours salivating over the different daffodil shapes, blooming periods and colors.

For years hybridizers have struggled to develop pink varieties. It isn’t hopeless. Looking at some of the best, if you squint just right you can detect mild pinkness.

There are marvelous bi-colors of yellow and flaming orange, shades of gold, sulfur, soft lemon, creamy white and a few chartreuse to almost pistachio varieties. Daffodils range from the simplest tiny, single blooms to large, flouncy doubles. Some are fragrant.

They’re charming as individual clumps tucked around rocks or by tree trunks as well as naturalized in small and large drifts. They’re happy in sun and, like crocuses, can tolerate the light shade of deciduous trees. By leafy tree time, they will have made enough food to support next year’s flowers.

Plant them 3 to 6 inches deep and 2 to 4 inches apart — the larger the bulbs, the deeper and more widely spaced.

Tulips — Colors galore! Though there aren’t any true blue tulips, almost every other color is in evidence. Blooming from April through mid-May as the days become softly warm, tulips are synonymous with spring. Planting different varieties for succession blooming will give you a longer season than a single variety can provide. Their packages and catalog descriptions will tell you whether you are looking at early, mid-season or late ones.

Tulips are not especially long-lived. Many gardeners treat them as annuals, tossing out the old ones and planting fresh ones every year. Not only does it encourage the fun of experimenting with different varieties, but it also eliminates the dreaded yellow foliage phase.

Other tulip fans take pride in coaxing theirs to return for four or five years. They say they succeed by planting deeply, allowing the soil to run a little dry during the summer, feeding in both spring and fall, clipping dead blooms and being sure not to cut the foliage until it has thoroughly yellowed.

The more sun you give tulips, the better. Digging holes 4 to 6 inches deep and spacing the bulbs 4 to 6 inches apart should do the trick.

Hyacinths — Breathe the perfume. Flowers should have beautiful scents, and there aren’t as many fragrant flowers as there used to be. It was a gradual loss that slipped away nearly unnoticed, an unintended consequence of breeding for other desirable characteristics. If you yearn for delicious fragrance, plant hyacinths.

They are strongly upright and formal in habit with flowers in shades of pink, white, yellow and blue. The jewel tones of deep amethyst, sapphire and ruby are especially striking. Look for a sunny spot and set them in clusters 4 to 6 inches apart, 6 to 8 inches deep.

General rules
— Buy good bulbs. Usually you get what you pay for. If the price is too good to be true, it’s probably a false economy. It is better to have a few high-quality bulbs that will multiply over the years than lots of inferior ones that underperform and disappoint. Look for sizable, firm, healthy bulbs free of mold and soft spots. The more points there are where growth will emerge, the better the bloom.

— Plant bulbs and corms with the pointed ends up and the roots down. Can’t quite tell which is which? Then lay them in the hole sideways. They’ll sort it out on their own. When you’ve covered them with soil, water them in thoroughly.

— If you’re planting masses of bulbs, dig trenches the proper depth and scatter the bulbs inside. It’s your chance to play with curving or freeform shapes and interesting, natural-looking locations.

— There are lots of heated opinions about how to fertilize and with what. In the old days bone meal was a rich, nutritious source of phosphorous. Now, manufacturing processes deplete many nutrients while retaining the bone scent. Dogs and other animals will be attracted and dig around, but the bulbs won’t get much benefit, and you’ll have to put up with the smell.

To keep it simple, use any reputable slow-release bulb fertilizer, following package directions for how much to use. Sprinkle it on top of the soil after you’ve planted and covered the bulbs. This method works reliably and avoids the possibility of burning the bulbs with the fertilizer. Water well.

— If there are long dry spells, water occasionally through the fall and winter.

— After the spring flowers fade, feel free to deadhead, but do not cut, braid, wrap, rubber band or otherwise molest the leaves until they have turned completely yellow. You want as much leaf surface as possible collecting sun rays. As long as the leaves are green, they are making food to store in the bulb for next year’s blooms. Inhibiting food production will doom you to sad-looking plants with little lifespan.