When buying spring flowering bulbs, choose the largest, healthiest you can find. If you prefer mail ordering your bulbs, buy from the better dealers. Discard any that aren't good and solid to the touch. Think onions. You wouldn't buy squishy, dried up, or damaged onions. Like onions the outer skins can be loose, it won't harm the bulb.
Plant your bulbs in good well-drained garden loam with the root end down and the pointy end up. Most all spring flowering bulbs prefer full sun; but since most bloom before the trees leaf out, you don't have to be too careful of shady spots.
Plant in "drifts" rather than straight rows like soldiers on parade, and the result will be more pleasing to the eye. One of the easiest ways to do this, once the planting bed is prepared, is to take a handful of bulbs and toss. Plant them where they land. Try to group similar colors and bulb types together, though, to avoid a "crazy quilt" effect.
One of the most fragrant of all the spring flowering bulbs is the hyacinth. Hardy to zone 4, they flower mid to late May in colder areas. Though only a foot tall, planted in groups this magnificent flower makes a bold statement. The White Flower Farm catalog http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com calls them "great lusty divas", a delightful and accurate description. For a patriotic garden display plant icy white "Carnegie" with the heirloom "Blue Giant" and rosy red "Amethyst".
On a daintier note are the deceptively rugged bluebells. Hardy to zone 3 these diminutive plants consistently return year after year in my spring garden, blooming in late May or June. They make good transition plants. Often these and columbines are the only flowers in bloom in my garden in late spring. English Bluebells are the most fragrant, though Spanish Bluebells are just as charming. Despite the moniker "blue", they also come in pink and white.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are snowdrops, blooming sometimes even before the crocus. A member of the amaryllis family, snowdrops resist deer and vole predation, and most are hardy to zone 3. The best choices for vigor and hardiness are Viridi-apice and S. Arnott. Pure white blooms tipped with green sparkle in a woodland setting, preferring a rich woodsy soil.
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