Growing bulbs can be a quick and simple way to brighten up the garden with decorative, colourful and fragrant displays using hardy favourites such as daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips and cyclamen. Many tender bulbs, including the starry Ixia and the fiery Tigridia are also popular.

The major characteristic of bulbs is that they provide visual interest for just one season, remaining dormant and hidden for the remainder of the year. With careful planning, this feature can be an advantage, making bulbs invaluable as border plants as well as ideal for growing in containers or naturalising in grass. Although they can be left in place, bulbs can also be lifted after flowering and replanted each year to provide room for other seasonal plants, making them particularly useful for small gardens.

Bulbs can make a valuable addition to formal bedding displays, with tulips and hyacinths a popular choice due to their strong, sculptural forms. Spring-flowering bulbs are ideal for planting in a bed to be used by annuals later in summer, as they may be lifted and stored during their dormant season. Bedding bulbs can be planted in mixed groups that flower at different times to provide a long display of colour during the season or in blocks of colour, each of one type of bulb.

Whilst the main bulb season is from early spring to early summer, there are many bulbs that flower outdoors at other times of the year, such as the tiny, deep blue Iris histrioides 'Major', white snowdrops and the pink Cyclamen coum. Bulbs that flower in summer or autumn are often larger, and have a more exotic colour and shape than spring bulbs.

Summer- or autumn-flowering bulbs can also be used effectively in planting schemes: the more compact cultivars of gladioli, especially the Butterfly or Primulinus groups, or Galtonia, with its elegant, green or white spikes, look striking when planted in large blocks bordered by low-growing ground cover. The graceful, pink blooms of Nerine bowdenii also work well with the large, rounded flowerheads of blue or white Agapanthus Headbourne Hybrids.