Yes you do plant them on top of one another but you also put the bulbs that bloom later in the season towards the front of the bed otherwise the dying foliage of the earlier bulbs will ruin the display. Or you can make sure that all the bulbs you plant bloom at the same time - early with early and late with late. It should say on the description of the bulbs. Some online or catalogue sellers give that information for just that reason - so that you have things displaying at the same time. But, if you are going to mix bulbs, say early tulips with late tulips, be sure to plant the late in the front of the early otherwise you'll see that problem I mentioned. For example, I had a large bed against a rock wall, approx 20' long and 4' wide. Near the rocks itself, I planted the large King Alfred type daffs. In front of them I planted Poeticas Daffs, and in front of them I planted Hostas. First to show are the King Alfreds (end of April to about mid May), then the Poeticas (mid May to mid June) then the foliage of the Hostas eventually hides all the browning foliage. Unless someone is right on top of the rock garden, no one would ever see the dying foliage. Hope this helps.

GardenGal I owe you an apology for doubting you when I was convinced it was a hydrangea! After you said that I looked it up and really really investigated and figured out you are right. It was getting dark last night when I first really started looking and took that last pic and the more I looked today the more I realized it is all the same plant and probably blackberry. I had researched and researched Hydrangeas trying to figure out exactly what kind it was and in my defense the leaves do look a lot similar, especially the really big ones. They are shaped almost the same with the same serrated edges and have a lot of the same characteristics such as both have blooms that grow on the branches from the year before. I did know that something just didn't seen quite right though because the leaves are all in groups of three and I couldn't find any pics of hydrangeas like that and my grannys isn't like that when I looked last weekend. I just cant imagine what happened. I took a piece straight from my grannys plant and put it there. I was just at her house this past weekend and cleaning up around hers and I noticed that hers looked a different but still quite similar in the leaves themselves but not the groupings (3-5-7-etc). Only thing I can think is maybe the transplant didn't survive and there just happened to be a blackberry growing in that same spot (like I said I planted it when we first bought the house) or the blackberry killed out the hydrangea. Regardless I am just gonna see what the blackberry does this year and then probably dig it up...at least I will have some berries Lol. I also went today and bought a Hydrangea...big and fluffy and Pink!!! :) Thanks for your help...this has been a funny adventure and I feel kinda silly but I learned something so that's all that matters. I am planting my 20x20 veggie garden tomorrow....but I know my veggies, just not so much flowers Lol!

I'll leave the soil mix for someone else. Many people have their own "special formula". It sounds like you have that under control though. Hopefully the manure was aged/composted so it won't be too rich. It is definitely not too early to plant the above listed vegetables. In fact, you could have done it quite a bit earlier. I will provide a link to the UT Ag Ext site below. Take a look at their Guide to Cool-Season Vegetables. It's probably too late to winter sow. Usually this is done earlier when the weather is consistently cold. Planting indoors would be a very good idea and will give you an important head start. I have already planted mine and have little baby plants popping up. If you are going to grow them from seed, I would plant ASAP. Here is a link that might be useful: University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service Publications

"The reviews that I read on Amazon mentioned an abundance of gnats which would discourage me." An abundance of gnats is typically an indication of a soil mix that is too moisture retentive. And particle size will contribute to aeration (or lack of it) and collapse. Too fine a particle size in the mix naturally leads to lack of aeration/collapse as the fine particles filter together, eliminating any pore space. And lack of aeration reduces drainage.....hence excessive moisture retention. btw, Black Gold Garden Soil is intended to be a supplement or amendment for regular garden soil, not as a stand-alone product. And it is NOT intended for container culture. As it is hoped to be very clear, growing successfully in containers requires very different materials and approaches to inground gardening.