Don't bother with the plants missing more than one or two leaves. They're less likely to be useful. If you've got a reasonable complete plant, fertilze it, water it (not soggy, don't let it dry out), and try to keep it from getting over 80F or so. Try to keep them green for as long as possible. With luck, you might get 10-20% of them to produce blooming size bulbs, depending on the cultivar. I force hundreds of tulips every year, and I put the biggest plants (14cm+ pink impressions this year) in the greenhouse after blooming. This year, I managed to get perhaps one 12cm+ blooming-sized bulb out of every three original bulbs. Part of the problem is that tulip bulbs need to be planted deeply to keep them from splitting too much. Shallower plantings results in more, smaller bulblets. Forced bulbs are invariably planted too shallow. Still, it's a useful experiment to try. When the foliage dies back, dig out the bulbs, take off the outer skin (the flabby stuff that's not stuck to the bulb), separate the bulblets, and measure them. Let us know what you get.

Ok, thank you for clarifying. I'm still having a little logistical problem - maybe it's just me. I am thinking I would like to try this though, so want to see if I can get it. Let's start with something relatively easy. Let's say I want to mix one variety of tulip, one variety of daffodil, and one variety of grape hyacinth in the same pot and have them all bloom at the same time. I would start by putting my tulips in the pot, in soil I presume? Then about two weeks later my daffs go in. What have they been doing in the meantime? Staying at room temp? And I guess I would have to push soil aside to get the daffs in there, or else layer which would then, I would think, change the time it takes for the tulips to emerge. Then about four weeks later I add the hyacinths, so same questions, do they stay at room temp in the meantime? All will bloom in three to four weeks after coming in - I did not know that, that is very very helpful. For other reasons as well, lol! (aside here - I want to do some pots for my front steps that will be blooming at the same time as the outdoor tulips, now I know the timing for that, thank you!) The 40 bulbs bit - here is one of their descriptions, it is astounding to me: "A regal collection of favorite TulipsÂapricot 'Beauty Queen', pink 'Gabriella', 'Purple Prince', and 'White Emperor'Âsurrounded by a host of supporting blooms chosen for their sweet smell and guaranteed performance. We pack the bulb pan with six each of the Tulips, two each of heavenly scented Hyacinths 'City of Haarlem' and 'Delft Blue', a dozen each of Anemone 'White Splendour' and the fragrant blue Grape Hyacinths, Muscari armeniacum and M. a. 'Valerie Finnis'. They are rounded out by nearly a dozen Daffodil bulbs chosen from 'Segovia', 'Barrett Browning', and 'Sweetness'. A glorious spring bulb garden, prechilled and ready to begin growing on arrival. Seventy-five bulbs in a 12" stained Ash basket." I will start small this year. I'd just like to combine a couple of simple varieties to see if I can get them to bloom together. I'll worry about 75 bulbs of 10 varieties some other year! Thanks for the help, any more advice?

"Forcing" bulbs is the process where WE decide when we want the blooms to appear, as opposed to when mother nature would let them appear. If you live in the deep south, you know that amaryllis bulbs are hardy here and when planted in the ground, will bloom naturally in early summer. Yet, they are commonly given as gifts and brought into bloom in December. The process that makes them bloom in December is called "forcing". Now, as hopflower said, lots of bulbs NEED a long period of chilltime during winter in order to bloom in the spring (or anytime else, for that matter). That is why they are chilled. Tulips and hyacinths simply won't bloom for us here in the deep south without 2 to 3 months of chill time in the fridge before they are planted. (Because our winters are not cold enough or long enough to do it naturally.) You are right. You can order bulbs pre-chilled. However, you will pay extra for this service, and if the catalog doesn't specifically say "pre-chilled", you can assume they are not. So... what does all this mean for you? If you want daffodils, do a little research and find out which ones will blooms well for you in your area without needing to be dug up and chilled every year: there are many. The Southern Living Garden Book has a good list in it, and there are others floating around, as hopflower said. If you want tulips or hyacinths, buy them now. Put them in the lower part of your refrigerator, but not in the fruit drawer, for 8 to 10 weeks. Then plant them in the ground. It's okay that that is after Christmas. They will then come up and bloom for you when mother nature tells them to. Once bloom is done, pull the tulips up and throw them away. You'll never get them to bloom again, although the leaves might return each year for years. Let the hyacinth leaves turn yellow, cut them off, dig up the bulbs and keep them until next year, when you put them back in the frige and start the whole process over again. General tips: Let all bulb foliage turn yellow and begin to die before cutting it off or you'll kill the blooms for next year. Many times daffodils will have a big bulb and then smaller bulbs attached to it at the bottom (sometimes called "noses"). You can break them off and plant them separately. They may or may not bloom the first year, but will come up, make foliage, gain size, and bloom in subsequent years. Or, you can leave them attached, and you may have more than one bloom stalk come out of that same spot in the ground the first year. If you are planting in clay, loosen the soil with manure, compost, etc. to improve drainage or your bulbs will rot. If you plant crocus, you need to know that they are a favored food for squirrels who will dig them up and eat them forthwith! (If gardening was easy everyone would do it. :) Enjoy! Learn! Try new stuff! Look forward to spring!

Ideally fall bulbs should be planted in September or October, but it is not uncommon for people living in our zones to plant bulbs in November as long as the ground isn't frozen or if it is, as long as it's not frozen the six inches or so down. Most of my tulips are from clearance bulbs that I bought in October or November and just plunked them into the soil. I think after a few days in the cool but not frozen soil (even if the air temps aren't that great), the bulbs sort of adjust. The ground does eventually freeze, but hopefully by that time the bulbs are adjusted. I guess it depends on what type of bulbs and how valuable they are to you, since not all the bulbs may survive winter but there are alot of people who buy the bulbs on clearance and just plunk them in. For winter you may want to ensure you shovel snow on top, or even mulch with leaves first. In spring, however, you will find that these bulbs will come up later than the bulbs already growing in your yard, at least for the first year. I have also done indoor forcing of bulbs and it worked fairly well. All I did was find a shallow sort of pot (actually, one of those "candy tubs" that candy comes in, plant the bulbs in soil, moisten a bit and put into the fridge for a while. A cold room or cool basement would probably be ideal, since it would save fridge space. Glen