In the fall, when you plant spring-blooming bulbs, you are declaring your faith in the future. These remarkable little packages of food and flower are genetically programmed to produce blossoms and require relatively little effort on your part. About six weeks before the ground freezes, you plant and water the small, onionlike bulbs. As winter fades and the soil begins to warm, beautiful flowers emerge (and may emerge each spring for many years after that). Magic! To get the most flowers for the least effort, follow these strategies and tips…

Before You Start

If you are a rookie gardener, check out the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center's website, www.bulb.com, to learn basic planting techniques. But no matter where you live, these 10 tips will help you create a lusher, healthier spring show.

1. Think in threes. Bulbs should be planted at a depth three times their height. Don't cheat or your bulbs may bloom only once. If you live in a cold climate, plant them a few inches deeper to assist blooming year after year (this is known as perennializing). When planting in a group, space the bulbs at a distance of three times their width.

2. Heads up. Tear-shaped bulbs, such as tulips and daffodils, should be planted with the pointy end up. But with some varieties, it's hard to tell which end that is. When in doubt, plant the bulbs on their sides and they will work it out themselves.

3. Dig less. To plant a number of smaller bulbs without digging a single hole, select an area of the garden where there is nothing growing. Spread on a thick layer of compost. Next, position small bulbs, such as Spanish Bluebells, or miniatures, such as 'Tete-a-Tete' daffodils, right on top. Cover them with several inches of soil and mulch to the proper depth (see number 1).

4. Don't get lost. It's difficult to remember where established bulbs are when you're planting new ones in the fall. Putting at least one grape hyacinth (muscari) in the middle of a clump acts as a kind of garden marker, because grape hyacinth is one of the few bulbs that typically sprout leaves in the fall. This will signal the location of your buried treasures, and you won't risk harming them when you're digging new holes for additional bulbs.

5. Be natural. Small, early-blooming bulbs, like the bluebell-shaped scilla, look best growing in the grass. But planting them can be labor-intensive, especially if you want a good show the first year, before they start to multiply. To plant a lot quickly, slide a flat garden spade under the grass roots and lift up a section of turf as wide as the shovel head and about 24 inches long. It should look like a piece of carpet, attached to the ground at one end. Lightly scratch the surface of the exposed dirt to loosen the soil. Scatter the bulbs randomly across the dirt (this is known as "naturalizing") and replace the grass "lid." Tamp down the section gently with your foot and water well. The grass will reroot, and the bulbs will push through the surface in the spring.

6. Provide context. Old bulb foliage is an eyesore that is hard to camouflage. One trick is to plant directly into a ground cover, such as pachysandra. Another solution is to place clusters of bulbs next to later-blooming summer perennials. By the time the bulbs are finished in late spring, the garden will be filling in with the foliage of the new plants and hiding the spent foliage underneath. Daylilies are an excellent companion plant for dying daffodil foliage.

7. Give them nourishment. Bonemeal is no longer considered the best plant food for bulbs. Instead, in the fall, apply a slow-release bulb fertilizer. Sprinkle it on top of the ground, then reapply when shoots break the ground in spring and again when the flowers are spent. This will boost the bulbs' health and promote longevity.

8. Plant defensively. If squirrels or other furry pests dig up and snack on your bulbs, spray or dip the bulbs in a repellent, such as Ropel, before planting. To fend off underground noshers, try VoleBloc, or sprinkle tiny, sharp gravel in the hole as a deterrent. As for deer, they rarely, if ever, eat alliums, daffodils, Spanish bluebells, crocuses, snowdrops, glory-of-the-snow, or grape hyacinths. But tulips, unfortunately, are considered "deer candy."

9. Fade out. The blooms should be deadheaded as they fade, but strongly resist the temptation to tidy up and remove the dying foliage. If you want the flowers to return next year, the leaves must be allowed to turn brown while still attached to the bulbs. This photosynthetic process, which takes about a month (six weeks for daffodils), feeds the bulbs, allowing them to bloom again the following spring.

10. Defy nature. No winter? No problem. Some spring-flowering bulbs will bloom in warmer climates, but many need an artificial cold period of 10 to 14 weeks. If you live in the Deep South or other parts of the country above zone 8, you can fill your refrigerator with bulbs for a precooling period. The only drawback: The bulbs won't perennialize in warm climates without drastic measures, so they must be considered annuals. Or you can order precooled bulbs from suppliers, such as Brent and Becky's Bulbs (877-661-2852, www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com.