While some bulbs fade away over time or fall prey to rodents or deer, the minor bulbs persist, thrive and even multiply over the years. Most likely they'll outlive you. Old gardens often offer evidence of these tough little bulbs. Century-old colonies of grape hyacinths, Siberian squills, snowdrops, glory-of-the-snow, striped squills, snow crocus, guinea hen flowers and snow iris are well documented.

One of the most famous showcases for these bulbs is in Delaware at Winterthur, the former estate of the DuPont Family. At the turn of the twentieth century, thousands of these bulbs were planted on the wooded slopes. Today, the bulbs number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. The March Bank, as it's now called, attracts gardeners and photographers in droves each spring.

My March display isn't quite so impressive, but it gets better every year. The grape hyacinths had a head start, obviously planted on this property long before I showed up. I add more bulbs each fall, while some of these minor bulbs also seed themselves. They often pop up in unexpected places.

Almost any soil and any site will suit the minor bulbs. Most do extremely well under deciduous trees, since the trees leaf out just as the bulbs are going dormant for the summer. Snowdrops and guinea hen flowers seem to prosper best in partial shade where the soil never dries out.

The snow crocus do especially well in hot, dry spots. Avoid the "jumbo" Dutch crocus, which have little staying power in our climate. Instead, choose their smaller cousins that are usually labeled as "snow," "botanical" or "species" crocus.

The minor bulbs are easy to plant. Because they only need to be a few inches deep, all you need is a trowel or knife. To get a natural effect, just toss a handful in the air and plant the bulbs where they fall in a bed. Try a very gentle toss, not a baseball pitch. If the soil feels dry, water the bulbs after planting. After that, you'll never need to give them any care whatsoever--for life.