Taken from the Eclectic Gardener @ http://www.teachinggarden.org/
Written by Alan Hickman

There are two persistent myths about flowering bulbs. The first is that bulbs only grow really well in Holland and the other is that bulbs are only good for one year and then they just get smaller and gradually die out. The first myth is the result of good marketing, and the second is largely the result of bad husbandry.
When history and marketing are combined, the results are powerful. Think diamonds and the association is DeBeers, and South Africa; think wine and the immediate connection is France. In the same way, tulips and Holland have become virtually synonymous.
In reality, fine diamonds can come from northern Canada and fine wines from a multitude of places. Likewise, there are commercial bulb-growing operations in many countries. The states of Oregon and Washington produce bulbs for west-coast gardens. Farms in Tasmania and Victoria supply the local Australian market, and bulbs from New Zealand are actually imported into Holland for the off-season trade. Anywhere with a moderate sort of four-season climate can grow spring-flowering bulbs. What is needed for commercial success is technical expertise and good marketing.
As Brampton has a decent enough climate, and as gardeners are not concerned with commerce, all that remains for successful spring-bulb growing is getting the technique right.
Getting the soil right is part of the 'technique'. Brampton soils are naturally fertile and productive but they tend to be heavy and poorly-drained because they are overly rich in clay particles. The fine grains pack closely together and, when they get wet, most of the air is forced out and the soil then dries into a solid brick-like mass. The 'cure'is simple; add sand. The material sold as concrete sand by garden supply companies has had the fine silt and clay particles removed so it is ideal for amending a heavy garden soil. As narcissus and tulips like to have the soil rather on the light side, a bit of excess sand will do no harm.
With the soil suitably open, the only other thing that bulbs ask for is that they be planted at the correct depth and too deep is better than too shallow. Locally, the bottom of a tulip bulb should be 6" (15 cm) below the surface of the flower bed. For narcissus, the depth should be 8" or about 20 cm. In general, tulip bulbs should be about 4" apart and narcissus a bit more if they are very large.
As people are often quite poor at estimating how deep 8" is, the following planting method will help in getting the depth and spacing correct. Take an empty 12" diameter round plastic pail - the sort used for bulk items like detergent or nails - and use a felt marker to put a line around the outside of the pail 6" up from the bottom. Put a second line 8" from the bottom. For planting tulips, dig a hole big enough for the bucket to sit in and deep enough so that the 8" line is just level with the surface of the flower bed. Put about a couple of inches of coarse sand in the bottom of the hole. Put the bucket back in the hole and check that the 6" line is now level with the soil surface. Push the bucket down and give it a bit of a twist so that it leaves a round imprint in the sand.
Eight tulip bulbs, spaced about 4" apart, will now fit around the edge of the imprint and three more will fit in a triangle in the centre of the ring. With the bulbs set in place, cover them with another couple of inches of sand. The hole can now be filled in with garden soil - preferably lightened up with more sand and perhaps some garden compost. Cover the area with a couple of inches of mulch and water the whole thing thoroughly. For narcissus the process is the same except that the hole would start out 10" deep.
Although eleven bulbs is a funny number, it's what happens to work with a standard twelve-inch bucket. If you've got ten bulbs or a dozen, simply adjust the spacing to make them fit. Nature isn't going to bother about 10% one way or the other.
This method of planting offers several benefits. Each bulb is surrounded by well-drained material and the open structure allows roots to easily spread out to capture the dilute nutrient-rich solution which is formed when rain trickles down through the mulch and soil above. The layer of sand also acts as a marker. When it comes time to lift and divide the bulbs, you know that they are all in the sand layer. If there's no sand, there are no bulbs.