Crowding situations typically arise with bulbs that naturalize freely but only after a sufficient period of time for them to multiply. So I guess the simple answer to your question is yes, most bulb species can be planted relatively close together without concern :-) Some gardeners even layer various bulbs in the same area to maximize the bloom display over a long period. Bulbs are not heavy feeders - I never fertilize mine - and will not "rob" their neighbors of soil nutrients. And they can be interplanted with other, preferrably shallow rooted, perennials, groundcovers and small shrubs without problems. Many bulb growers like to interplant their spring flowering bulbs with perennials close by so that the developing perennial foliage will hide the old foliage of the bulbs as it ripens and dies back.

Thanks for the culture clarification. I find the info about the sun exposure interesting. I also grow orchids and the high sun in a south window in the summer is a plus because direct sun in the summer can cook some orchids. I have an unobstructed north east window and a south west window that looks out on a porch. I don't get enough direct sun thru the south west window and I'm not sure I'd get enough thru the north east window. How many hours/day of direct sun do they need in the winter? Is it preferable to put them out during the summer? As far as temp differentials....I like my house cool at night and run air conditioning as little as possible so I think I can manage significant temperature differentials.

all nigra are total dogs in my yard ... WOOF!!! ... even the healthy ones look sickly all the time ... i wish they would die.. but they wont ... which i take to mean they are NOT really sick ... BTW ... new house????? how big is the yard???? pungens will grow about 1 foot to 18 inches per year once they get going [see pic of hoopsi below] ... you will need a 15 to 20 foot circle for the next decade or 2... give them space... if you want a blue one.. get a blue one... or even bluer.. a named variety ... DO NOT BUY A GREEN ONE.. AND HOPE SOME DAY IT WILL TURN BLUE ... sylvestris and strobus are forest trees .... IMHO ... growing 3 to FIVE FEET per year.. inside of a year or two ... they will need 20 to 30 feet of ground space inside of a decade ... is that really what you want ... and picea abies are not that far behind .... google any of them.. and flip to the images side.. to see the gigantic potential of all of them .... i did the same thing you are thinking ... using species as backbone... and i will yell... ON MY FIVE ACRES.. 8 TO 10 YEARS LATER.. SOME OF THEM ARE TOO BIG ... frankly.. i think you are focusing on the BARGAIN.. and missing the point ... there are a lot of very nice named cultivars that will have a much more manageable footprints in the future .... do NOT jump simply because of the bargain ... all of these grow in native mountain ranges.. which have rocky sparse high drainage low fertility soil ... so ignore that variable... but i have no clue about the alkaline soil issue and will defer to others ... IMHO.. sand is the best for any tree .. and conifers are trees .... and throw in shrubs also .. sand is only an issue with water loving annuals/perennials ... and bulbs that need a good deep soil to thrive ... how about some pix of the new moonscape.. that you want to turn into a landscape ... ken a one gal hoopsi planted in 2003 .... Here is a link that might be useful: link --- interchange strobus

Hey Sarah, if it was a fat white or greenish white thing, that's a pup. On my way out to repot another plant that got blown over while outside last weekend. Will take some more pup pics... On the above little plant, I watered the root ball, then put it into fairly moist mix so I won't have to water it for a couple weeks. Hopefully that will help keep the soil from compacting as much as possible. When it stays loose and hole-y, the roots and pups have an easy time cruising through it and getting situated.