Okay, I have done this. I set my daylilies two feet apart on centers. I plant my daffodils in exactly the center between the clumps of daylilies, using 5 bulbs per square foot (planting just that center square foot). I use five different varieties of daffodils, early bloomers through late bloomers. I plant the early bloomers at the back and work forward through mid and lates. This works extremely well. I have daffodils blooming in that bed continually from the first week of February (this is zone 7b) almost up to the time the daylilies begin to bloom. The daffodil foliage is very inobtrusive since the daylily foliage comes up and covers it as the bulbs are ripening. Here's the important part. I divide the daylilies every third year in the fall, and when I do this, I first dig up the daffodil bulbs and divide them too. I replant the largest bulbs and move the smaller ones to other areas in my yard. Because I am so careful to plant the bulbs in exactly the same spot, and because the soil is so loose, I can almost get the bulbs up with my hands, I almost never cut a bulb. The one drawback is you want to be careful not to overwater the daylilies in the summer, because the bulbs really prefer somewhat of a good summer bake. Other than that, it's a nearly foolproof system. Oh yes, when I divide everything, I always apply a top dressing of an inch of compost or Black Kow to the soil in that bed. I feed the daylilies with an organic fertilizer in February, May and October, giving a sprinkle of the same fertilizer to the bulbs. They like it.

One way you can be positive about what blooms where and when in your particular microclimate is to plant a handful of each this fall and see how they fare next spring, then make plans for the whole acre from there, bearing in mind that every year may be different because of weather varibles. Several hundred of each will be spectacular! Nell

Lola: The Loreley is a purple and gold mixed. The pink is a tall bearded iris. will e-mail you when I dig and divide. I dug the iris to thin and work about the weed problem. I put the ones to save into pots and never replanted. I've saved the pink and the one called Loreley because wife and I love these so much. Will I ever buy more? Probably down the road. A WHITE ON WHITE is something the wife would like. Maybe. Pembroke

There is no frost heave problem, not even in New Jersey, where I used to grow bulbs. He may be right about planting them 12" deep, I don't know. I've never tried it. Is this the same guy who said you need to freeze pea seeds? Daffodils and tulips need a lot of sun to build the next year's bulb. Tulips need more sun than daffs. Daffs will grow in just about any soil, but tulips need sand to sandy loam. If the soil is sandy enough, they can take summer watering. I sprinkle a little dolomite lime on the ground in early spring, just as the shoots are coming out of the ground. I also give them a little balanced fertilizer at the same time. Bone meal is OK too, but is not as balanced as 5-10-10 or something like that. And bone meal doesn't have much potassium, which the bulbs need. I know you're not supposed to mix lime and nitrogen fertilizer, because some of the nitrogen is lost, but I don't worry about it, since the bulbs don't need much nitrogen anyway. As bboy pointed out, daffs can be attacked by Narcissus bulb fly. When you dig the infested bulbs in late summer, you will see that the center of the bulb is rotted and black. Discard the damaged bulbs. Google it to find out more about control. Nasty chemicals are involved. If you're successful, crowded clumps of bulbs will develop. You will need to replant them occasionally, or they will stop blooming.