When we plant bulbs in the fall, we can expect a reward in spring. Beginning gardeners can do just as well as professionals. Some things can go wrong, of course, from prolonged wet conditions (so they rot) to squirrels and deer foiling the plan.

But bulbs usually thrive if we follow these basic steps:

Prepare or loosen the soil so the roots can penetrate.

Mix some bulb-booster fertilizer or bonemeal into the soil just below (but not touching) the roots.

Plant them, point up, at about 3z times the height of the bulb from root to point.

Space them according to instructions on the bag.

Water them when the soil is dry, until the ground freezes.

The process is a miracle. The hard, little nubs, with their tufts of dead roots, go into the ground. Then we ignore them, while they freeze in the dark, and suddenly in April leaves and flowers burst forth. Bulbs give more “bang for the buck” than any other kind of planting.

What is even more surprising? Bulbs still perform for us, considering the way we really treat them. Do you actually get the daffodil bulbs down 8 inches or the giant Fritillaria bulb almost a foot?

How many bulbs do you plant with the soil really well prepared, and a nice sprinkling of fertilizer just under their roots? Be honest. I’ll bet that almost everybody falls short and skimps on the guidelines. Yet they will bloom.

Large bulb plantings

Consider this case: Last week I worked on two large projects, with several hundred bulbs going in. The scheduling was inflexible; it had to happen, no matter what the weather. It was bleak, windy, cold and intermittently rainy, once the snow melted.

Sure, we planted the first bulbs beautifully, by the book, definitely deeply enough. After 200, not so. Shovels opened a slit and in went the daffodil (50/50 whether the point was up). The fertilizer was way back in the truck by then. And you know what? They too will most certainly emerge and flower.

One secret is to buy large, fat, hard bulbs. The other is they’re simply tough.

Just dump on them

Here’s a tip if you really can’t get dig deep enough holes: (Shallower bulbs are the most vulnerable to heaving, drying out and rodent digging.) Dig shallow holes or trenches and scratch up the soil. Throw some compost down. Then scatter the bulbs and pour topsoil, compost and mulch over the top of them. Try to bury them as deep as the package says, but it will probably work out anyway.

Which bulbs? If you have deer around, choose daffodils, big orange or yellow Fritillaria or alliums. Try white or coral daffodils and white alliums, if you’re tired of the usual yellows.

For other sites, experiment with sweeps of the less-known bulbs— Puschkinia, Scilla, Anemone blanda and, best of all, beautiful blue Camassia. Experiment. They just aim to please.

Sally Cunningham is a garden writer, lecturer and consultant.