The Verdict Is In: Spring Flower Lasagne Experiment

Well, this was a success and a bust.  To remind you, I experimented with an empty flower pot by planting three layers of flower bulbs and rhizomes; tulips, ranunculus and crocuses: Spring Flower Lasagne

Here's the success part:

Yes, it's a beautiful pot of tulips!  But short of a few minor leaves for texture, there aren't any ranunculus or crocuses in this photo, are there?

I think my idea was okay, I just over-planted all the flowers.  And their growing season didn't stagger as much as I expected.  I thought I'd have a pot of crocuses first, and as those flowers were dying out the tulips and ranunculus would start blooming.  Unfortunately, the tulips were so eager, they came up while the crocuses had started to bloom, and in most cases, pushed the crocuses out of the soil.  I think the ranunculus are simply crowed out by too many cooks in the kitchen.

SO, moral of the story:  Either plant way fewer bulbs--and pay very close attention to not layer the bulbs too close to each other.  Or just enjoy a pot of tulips.

Side note:  These tulips out-performed any I've ever planted.  I think because I refrigerated them for a couple months before planting.  I will be digging these up once they're done and storing them in the fridge again, because that was a big win.  It is true that here in Zone 9, we often don't get cold enough winters for many bulb varieties.  They do well as long as they're treated as annuals, pulled up stored in a pretend-winter climate, then replanted.