thyme - definitely remove the seedheads from the big tulips and daffodils as soon as you see them start to form - actually, as soon as the tulips drop their petals and the daffodil flowers start to fade, I cut the flowerstalk down to the base. It reduces the 'mess' factor considerably by not having that dead-straight yellowing stalk poking up. It's easier to hide the basal leaves among other plants than it is to try to hide that stalk! But the small 'botanical' tulips and dwarf type daffodils should be allowed to set seed because most of those will spread nicely from seed without as much weakening of the 'mother' bulb - or at least the seedlings get to flowering size before the 'mother' bulb wears out. Judy - tulips are usually recommended to be planted about 6" deep - I aim for 8" in heavier soil and 10" or more in lighter soil (which I don't have!) In your climate, I'd think planting deep would increase their odds of returning for more years. Another important factor I think is to not water where they are too much during their dormant period. I don't think they like that. So make sure any companion perennials are not water-hogs that you need to provide a lot of supplemental water to in the summer. If I know I want to divide or move a clump, I wait until the foliage is ready to be removed and do it then (usually early July here). I that is not good timing (e.g. because I have to move/lift the companion perennial too and it's not a good time to disturb that plant...) I just mark where the bulbs are, either by leaving a bit of the old stems showing or put a few sticks in the ground or something like that... Then I can find them easily again when the time is right to move them. When we dig them, we start the hole back from the edge of where we've marked the bulb location. We know how deep them are, so it's fairly easy to dig them up without too much risk of damage.

This will be the first time I've tried Purple Sensation allium, but I do have the drumstick allium as well as the blue one, whatever it is called. For 3 years now they have come back strong...no problems of hardiness at all. I'm not sure if the larger novelty gladiator types are as hardy or not. Mine are planted in full sun, and they seem to like that best. Mine do not flop in the wind at all, they are much sturdier than they appear! I've read that for the big alliums, they need REALLY good drainage to stay upright. As for the unsightly foliage...well, I have mine interplanted with lilies, and I think they look awesome. The foliage just seems to sort of disappear, I don't notice it when it dies at all. I leave the blooms on after they go to seed; I think they look kind of neat. One of my favorite perennials! You can tuck it in just about anywhere.

For me it's not so much the economy causing me to cut back on garden spending. Instead its my wife's comfort level and other priorities. She's an accountant and doesn't have much interest in our yard and garden so long as it looks neat and tidy and maintained. The first year and a half we were in our house we spent a decent chunk on the yard, probably ~$2.5k: - building a rubble garden wall (material free, but took me some time) - planting a bunch of trees (free from my aunt's woods) - ripping out 1/2 my front lawn, planting a garden - replacing 7000 sf of grass lawn with an eco-lawn mix - putting in a drip irrigation system Since then it's mostly been letting things grow. Last year I added several new perennials between the shrubs. Spending probably dropped to a few hundred dollars. Again it was mostly just letting things grow. This year garden spending will be virtually nil. Instead I'll be building a new yard shed. Between the concrete foundation, walls, siding, doors, roof, etc. it's going to be a semi-major project and soak up our budgeted resources for home-improvement stuff. What i'll be doing garden-wise instead will be the winter sowing project. I collected a whole bunch of seeds this fall and have purchased maybe a couple packets of seeds commercially. I'm now starting to get the potting soil and do the winter sowing seed planting. I'm estimating my gardening costs for this year will be around $50. After that it'll be a year-by-year basis depending on what the yard needs. I was pretty antsy when we moved in to get plants in the ground and get them growing. Now and over the next several years it'll mostly be a matter of just letting them grow. That and maybe moving plants from one location in my yard to the other as adjustments are needed.

The great majority of tulips, not just species or Darwins, but very many garden hybrids will return reliably with certain caveats. Most essentially, like bearded iris, these bulbs need to be dry over summer, with preferably NO mulch but bare soil - despite growing at depth, the bulbs need to be baked all summer. They also hate, hate, hate wet winter soil. Essentially, if you can grow them on a sunny scree bed with no competition and well drained soil_ fertility is less an issue if sufficient sunlight falls on the leaves - most tulips will return. They often don't return in pots because they split off into daughter bulbs too readily, and they don't return in the ground if they do not get a full sun and very well drained environment. Mine are in a stony soil and are dressed with gravel, maintaining a lot of summer radiation. Having said that, not all tulips are equal. The least reliable have been the very large flowered Triumph types (but not the Fosteriana) and some of the late singles seem to be less reliable than early singles. parrots, viridiflora are so-so while lily-flowered have been very reliable for me. Best of all, even in pots, are species such as batalinii, clusiana, humilis and, my top favourite although rare, the late sprengeri (easier to grow from seed than to source expensive bulbs). True, my garden is a zone 8 sandy and stony open allotment in the UK but many clumps are over 15 years old - the ones I have lost have tended to be either overshadowed or thugged out by weeds and grass.I have never fertilised them, although I do top-dress the veggie beds (I grow a lot of tulips on the ends) with a compost topping (but not very rich in nutrients) but again, I do ensure the leaves are allowed to fully die back before removing or allowing other perennials to overshadow them. Perhaps less surprising, most of the older cultivars, which were bred from 'cottage' tulips - tend to have shorter stems, smaller flowers - are more reliable than some of the very large and blowsy doubles or modern varieties. They never come back when underplanting shrubs, or (unlike narcissi) in grass.