Around Christmas time, I got all excited over a photo in a slick catalog of amaryllis, narcissus and hyacinths in a pretty basket together. My narcissus bloomed in 4 weeks, some of the hyacinths are still blooming and the amaryllis have beautiful buds now. Fortunately, I did put them in separate containers.

This is usually my experience with bulbs. Even the pink hyacinths all of a kind that I planted in December have bloomed at different rates: some are blooming now and some haven't even come up -- but they're down there, with healthy shoots, because I carefully dug and peeked to make sure.
Not all types of daffodils bloom at the same time, nor do all tulips. It takes trial and error to ever 'get it right' and I guess I may never. Every year is different.

My understanding of how they get those in the catalogs photographed in bloom together is to transplant them from single pots into a large container when they actually bloom. By moving the pots from cooler to warmer, or warmer to cooler, you can speed or slow them to coincide bloom. Maybe.

Nell

Here is a link to my bulbs blooming indoors. My daffodils bloomed first, then only 1 crocus, and now lots of tulips. The blooming time was very close and they overlapped w/each other. Planted late November. I placed them under my grow light only for a day or two.My first daffodil bloomed when we got 8 inches of snow:) 2-3 wks ago.

Here is a link that might be useful: Layering of bulbs

Unless you have a lot of data on the specific cultivars you are forcing, you won't be able to get them all to bloom at once. They'll normally bloom at about the same relative time they would outside (e.g., daffs and crocus at about the same time, depending on which ones, followed by early, mid, then late tulips). The dutch have tulip forcing down to a science, and have tables with chilling times at different temperatures and forcing times at different temperatures.

It is true that you can speed up or retard the blooming phase by playing with the temperature. I've got tulips in a chiller at 39F that are about 3" tall; they won't bloom until I take them out. I've got others in a sunny, unheated room that will bloom if I leave them there, but it'll take weeks; once I bring them inside, they'll bloom much faster.

There's a limit to how much you can control blooming times. If you try to delay it too long, the buds may "blast" or dry up without opening. Gotta experiment a little to get a feel for what you can and can't do.