Camassia Lillium michiganense Lillium rubescens
Lillium vollmeri and Odontostomum are native to the midwest. Cipripedium calceolaris (an orchid- not a true bulb - but forms a corm) is also native

Do Claytonia (spring beauties) count?

my virginia bluebells may not be bulbs, but they are coming up to bloom with the tulips and daffodils.

Claytonia is a succulent perenial, not a bulb, and is native to the Rocky Mtns, not the Midwest. They will grow nicely in the midwest but do not count as Midwest native bulbs because they are neither bulbs nor natives in your location.

OK, succulent perennial glabrous herb with corms or thick rootstocks it is.

But of the 10 or so species native to northern North America, Claytonia virginica L. and Claytonia caroliniana Michx. are eastern U.S. natives though, right?

Here is a link that might be useful: Claytonia virginica

thanks everyone, i will try looking some of these up in catalogs online. but it is as i suspected - there aren't a whole lot of native choices to replace the daffodils with!

trout lilies, the native ones - they are short.

so many spring wildflowers act like bulbs anyway - their leaves disappear in summer.

Yes, Vibernumvally, Claytonia carolina and C. virginica are from the Eastern U.S.; but NOT from the Midwest.

There's Erigenia bulbosa (harbinger-of-spring), which is the first native plant to bloom in my yard. It is native to Ohio. Just don't except too much display from this plant -- it's cute, but it's tiny. It's not a true bulb, but a bulbous tuber.

Although this won't help with your desire for spring color, Allium cernuum (nodding onion) is quite pretty, and native in Ohio. It has pink flowers in mid to late summer.

By the way, the USDA's PLANTS database shows Claytonia virginica native in all midwestern states except the Dakotas.

Claytonia virginica has naturalized everywhere it has been introduced without becoming rampantly invasive anywhere. It was introduced in the Midwest in the late 1790s but it is NATIVE to the Atlantic Seaboard.

I second the vote for Virginia bluebells. They're the closest thing I have to the showy non-native bulbs.

Other early bloomers in my garden, also technically not bulbs, include dwarf crested iris and copper iris.

that's a good idea, now that i hear you all. just plant ephemeral kinds of early wildflowers in place of more daffodils!

i've just spotted some c. virginica in my yard, and according to peterson's field guide, it is native to southern ontario, which is close enough to ohio that i'm going to pretend it's native here. it sure is cute.

Zephyranthes atamasco

One desirable species that was mentioned above without comment is wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides). This plant is similar to the larger hyacinths from the western US that are widely available as showy cultivars.

Wild hyacinth has inconspicuous foliage -- a clump of grasslike, floppy basal leaves -- but it sends up a beautiful stalk of white flowers, up to about 12 inches tall. I have seen them in settings ranging from open woodlands with closed canopies (mine are under some large trees) to open glades.

Mine have been blooming for several weeks and are now forming seed pods. My plants struggled in poor clayey soil for a couple year, but they are thriving now after a year in my woodland bed with average soil. I had arranged them in a loose border, but I will be soon be moving them into a tighter clump in an area without tall plants to compete with. My experience is that they are a bit slow to mature (though mine were in poorer soil when they are young), but easy to transplant.

Here is a link that might be useful: wild hyacinth