For a mixture of tulips and daffodils that will last for many years, try a combination of tulip orange emperor, which is an excellent and reliable plant, flowering just before, and overlapping with golden spelldown. Clumps of yellow and orange red Narcissus Tahiti make a valuable addition in linking the two colors of tulips. As an alternative arrangement, try a single yellow narcissus such as pipit, along with an orange tulip, which is particularly beautiful and very reliable.

Flowering spring such as park farm hybrid and bridal wreath would add height and substance to the spring border. Both have white flowers, providing a lightness of touch and an excellent background to any spring bulbs. For a more vibrant color theme, try the vivid red tulip planted alongside yellow, red or orange wallflowers, which will start to flower by mid spring and continue blooming for several weeks, bridging the gap between spring and early summer.

The tulips may be planted in straight lines or grouped in clumps to give a more cottage garden feel. The wallflowers will provide delicious fragrance, especially after a shower rain. They will have to be replaced each year, but the tulips can be left in the soil where they will multiply well. Otherwise, to keep the straight lines in future years, the tulips will have to be thinned. Lift them about six weeks after flowering, when all the foliage has died back.

Look out for bright yellow, orange flushed and the original scarlet red, which has red flowers edged with yellow. Any one of these or a combination of several will add vibrancy to your borders for many years. They associate well with self seeding blue forget me knots, golden feverfew, and colorful premolar, all of which will naturalize.