Dora Fleming I am so obsessive about daffodils that I have succumbed too often in the past to offers from bulb catalogs for bulk packages that contain way more bulbs than I had room for in my Georgia garden. I can't seem to resist the double ones with pink centers, the ones bred for fragrance, or just about anything that I don't have dozens of already.

My solution to this dilemma is to plant them in pots - and include tulips, hyacinths, crocus and blue bells. They will bloom in succession and provide a bright spot on the patio for more than a month. Instructions:

Start with the largest pot you can find that has lots of drainage. Since you will be leaving the pot outside all winter, don't plant in a clay pot. It will absorb water, freeze and crack.

Put in a layer of potting soil…not soil from your yard. Add the tulip bulbs first because they need to be planted the deepest. Plant them as close together as you can, but don't let them touch. Cover with a layer of your planting medium.

Then add the daffodils. Sprinkle with fertilizer and cover with soil. The smaller bulbs like hyacinths and blue bells should come next. I like to add the crocus last because they bloom early and I've been waiting all winter for results.

Don't be concerned that because the bulbs are planted in layers the tulips and daffodils will not be able to come up through everything and bloom. Somehow they figure it out and all will appear.

If I can find rye grass seed I add a handful or so to the soil at the top of the pot. This looks better than an empty pot all winter.

Water your pot and put it outside in morning sun. After everything has bloomed and the foliage has turned brown, put the pot somewhere under cover for the summer. Take it out again next November, water and fertilize it and it will bloom again next spring. Or you can empty the bulbs out at this point, refrigerate them and plant them again next fall where you want them.

And remember - the pointy end of bulbs goes up.