There are many places to buy reliable bulbs: John Scheepers, Brent & Becky's, Dutch Gardens, McClure & Zimmerman, and Van Bourgondien are a few. They are all available online. Just type the names into your browser.

I buy most of my bulbs where are sold the cheapest. Usually Costco or Home Depot or even Walmart. Selection is the only reason I buy bulbs anywhere else. I have yet to get any bad bulbs. My failure with bulbs is my fault not the bulbs. Al

finchelover: I would NOT buy at Home Depot and Walmart due to their policies on employment and other labour issues; if this is important to you. However, I do not know about Costco and other big box stores; probably the same. I have bought bulbs at some other drugstore types and stores like Kmart; and have been disappointed. They tend to buy in volume and do not really take care of their nursery products all that well for the most part. Of course, there are exceptions so if you get in there early you might have a chance at some good bulbs before everyone has picked through them and before they have had a chance to dry out, etc. I really feel, though, that trade should be given to those who care about flowers and bulbs; the brokers whose lives depend upon making them available to us!

I buy most of my bulbs from Van Engelen/John Scheepers. They are of excellent quality and the price is good. I ordered some from Colorblends for the first time last year. The tulips were beautiful. The mix of Narcissus 'Thalia' and another yellow one was a bit lobsided. There were fewer 'Thalia' than the yellow. They both were very pretty, nontheless.

I just received catalogs from VE/JS yesterday. I'll order some soon. Will try the Impression tulip and T. 'Ballerina' and some parrots again. Don't have room for any more narcissi. Will be very tempted to add more Fritillaria meleagris.

I got mine from easytogrowbulbs.com and while the bulbs surely weren't the size of soccer balls (that's kind of how they made it sound), they were definitely very big and healthy. I planted some hybrid Asiatic lilies and aside from the one that got pulled under by a gopher, the others not only grew well but are blooming their heads off right now. I was told not to expect bulbs the first year so this was quite a pleasant surprise. The selection isn't all-inclusive and they definitely sell bulbs that are best-suited for the SoCal climate, but if you see something you like, I'd order from them in a heartbeat.

I just got my Scheepers Wholesale catalog and looked up Tulips. Their average tulip price is about $37 per hundred plus shipping. At my local Costco they are $20 per hundred with no shipping. If I want a particular variety I may be willing to pay the asked double price for mail order bulbs, but not very often. Al

I buy from: Brent and Becky's Bulbs and John Scheepers/Van Engelen. I've heard good things about Colorblends, but I haven't tried them yet. That's for "regular" bulbs. I get my antique varieties from Old House Gardens (oldhousegardens.com). They aren't cheap, but oh do they have some gorgeous varieties. The very unusual things I get from Odyssey Bulbs (odysseybulbs.com) and Bulbmeister (bulbmeister.com). I have absolutely no complaints and nothing but praise for all of the companies I mentioned.

Brent and Becky's is great! And the prices often beat other companies, too. I wish I lived close enough to see their gardens. Brandy

I have ordered from Brent & Becky's, John Scheepers, and Maclure & Zimmerman. They are all great companies. I'm considering an order with Bulbmeister if anyone has any comments on them. I'm ordering mostly species Tulips, if anyone knows of any other good sites.

finchelover- you might consider whether squirrels are the reason your bulbs don't come up. They particularly like hybrid tulips, and get almost all I have ever planted, and half of my lilies. Daffodils are poisonous so if those don't come up for you then it's not squirrels. They don't bother species Tulips as much, I planted 6 T. praestans unicum one year and they dug up one and dropped it on the ground in the next bed where it proceeded to bloom the next spring! But this last winter most of my T wilsoniana didn't come up and 2/5's of my T. vvedenskyi Tangerine Beauty.

I have bought daffodil bulbs on clearance at local nurseries and garden centers and they have done great. I don't usually buy from the big box stores as I don't trust their quality. My DH says Costco has been given a good report in the newspaper on their treatment of employees.

I was very happy with the quality of Brent&Becky's bulbs except for the Amaryllis bulb I bought this spring. It was very small and completely rotted inside. They gave me a refund for it.
I also bought bulbs from Lowe's and Costco this year. The quality was superb! Nice size, very fresh. The price is unbeatable. The key is - buy them when they just arrived to the store.