So imagine what the bed will look like after the daffodils and tulips fade. It will probably look like a dark green sea and then it will turn brown. Many people plant annuals on top of their bulbs, but those only last a season. My plan this year was to plant Showy Primrose I wintersowed among the tulips so that it comes back every year and will leave something pretty growing when the tulips die back.

Perennials for large areas:

Yarrow-white, red, yellow, pink. Starts easily from seed or a few plant starts and it's a midplains native and grows well. Feathery foliage that's pretty and long-blooming. I have plant starts if you want some.

Cushion Spurge. Some people like it, others don't. It's a plains native and it spreads quickly. It grows 12" high and blooms wonderful yellow blossoms. As the blossoms fade you have a green feathery foliage shorter than the yarrow. I have lots of plant starts if you want some.

Daisies. As the tulips fade the Shasta/Becky Daisies come to life and bloom their little heads off. The white flowers dance in the breeze. If you deadhead they keep reblooming. Nice long bloom period. These grow stronger by the year. (You guessed it--I have some.)

Phlox Subulata: Groundcover that blooms early spring. If you plant around your bulbs the bulbs come through it. Blooms purple, pink or white as a carpet of blooms. Rest of the year it's green and happy, very low to the ground. Low maintenance. I've only transplanted it, never done seeds. Yep, I have some.

Columbine: Grow well from seed. It will take a couple years for them to gain some size, but you'll have beautiful blooms. I personally have trouble with Columbine. I think it's my soil. Mine get about 24" high, last about 3 years, and that's it. My aunt's got as big as a bush, but didn't make it through the 2014-15 winter.

Sweet William grows well from seed. You'll have pink and white blossoms in mid spring.

Gaillardia grows well from seeds. Bright orange and yellow blooms depending on which seed you get. Short-lived perennial so they are around a couple years before they disappear and you can keep planting more seed to keep the cycle going.

Look at Craigslist or post on Craigslist for iris if you're interested. Many people have to divide roots of daylilies, iris or peonies and want someone to adopt their babies. They are usually unnamed, but if that doesn't bother you then you're in luck. They all come back like clockwork for years and years.

This was probably too much information!

Heidi

There is only one species of yarrow native to North America and it has white flowers.Cushion spurge is not native to North America either.Get your facts straight people when it concerns native plants! Sweet William seeds prolifically and will overtake other plants quickly as will Columbine.You can sow Virginia Bluebells in the ground,but you may have to wait 2 or 3 years before the plants reach flowering size.They are very Hardy and can thrive even with summer droughts as long as they get plenty of spring rains.Wild and other non-native perennial geraniums can provide color and cover up spent tulips and daffodils later in season and the yellow daffodils and blue bluebells look great together and bloom at the same time.Just start learning more about plants that like the conditions your site offers and it will all come together and evolve naturally.Please consider growing some natives for the wildlife, it will add a whole new dimension of enjoyment to your garden.The Virginia bluebells will fill in an area through self seeding,but they do it slowly and are in no way weedy or invasive.Spring ephemerals are great for early spring color and some like Jack in the pulpit and bloodflower retain there leaves until late in the season.Just avoid anything that's going to create a lot of seedlings every year because it will cause you a lot of time trying to remove unwanted seedlings in order to maintain a balanced look.Plains native? Where did you get that info? The plains of Libya? Turkey? Southern Europe? Definitely not any north American plains,yet people are fooled into believing it.Wo unto them that call an alien a native!

I live in Joliet just 40 miles south of you, so basically what works for me should work for you. I don't know if you are aware,but Virginia bluebells are also spring ephemerals and their leaves will brown and disappear by July.If you grew ferns like Japanese Painted Fern and Ostrich Fern and maybe the ferny native Sweet Cicely they would just be getting started when the tulips,daffodils,and bluebells are blooming and would get larger and help cover up the barren spaces after those plants have disappeared.Those 3 ferny plants can also handle some sun,but will need part shade also.If you want bluebell flowers sooner than later I would recommend getting a few mature plants and sowing seeds around them to create a whole drift of them in a couple years time.The ferns will spread slowly,but in no way invasively and the Sweet Cicely isn't a weedy species either.