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Having watched Monty Don planting bulbs in layers last year, I thought I'd give it a go.
In early November I planted tulip bulbs about half way down a big pot, added a layer of compost and then layers of narcissi, then iris, and finally winter pansies on top. The flowers appear in the reverse order, so over christmas I had blue and yellow pansies, the irises flowered in mid February, the narcissi in mid March, and the tulips have been flowering since mid April.
So the experiment worked, and there's been colour in the pot for almost 6 months. On the downside it is a bit straggly looking, the pansies are past their best and the narcissi stems are unsightly. In hindsight, if I do this again I think I'd probably plant greater numbers of iris and tulips, and also sacrifice the narcissi once they'd flowered by cutting their stems back.
But overall I'm pleased that it worked, here's some pics
In early November I planted tulip bulbs about half way down a big pot, added a layer of compost and then layers of narcissi, then iris, and finally winter pansies on top. The flowers appear in the reverse order, so over christmas I had blue and yellow pansies, the irises flowered in mid February, the narcissi in mid March, and the tulips have been flowering since mid April.
So the experiment worked, and there's been colour in the pot for almost 6 months. On the downside it is a bit straggly looking, the pansies are past their best and the narcissi stems are unsightly. In hindsight, if I do this again I think I'd probably plant greater numbers of iris and tulips, and also sacrifice the narcissi once they'd flowered by cutting their stems back.
But overall I'm pleased that it worked, here's some pics
, chiondoxa, and yellow and purple crocus. Very pleased with it.
Ditto the pot next to it with Grape Hyacinth and the one with slightly-nibbled Crocus 
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