By Jim McCausland, Sunset senior garden writer

A few days ago I showed what might be done with a few bulbs in the landscape, and before that, how to layer them in containers. But today’s lesson is for those who want a landscape that makes cars stop for pictures. These are massed spring-flowering bulbs. You buy and plant them now, at season’s end, because they’re all on sale as nurseries and garden centers are trying to clear space for Thanksgiving and Christmas displays.

The secret is to buy lots of bulbs of the same types, the plant them in color blocks in the landscape (below), or intentionally interplant them in pleasing combinations (above).

The combinations pictured here were photographed at Van Lierop Bulb Farms in Puyallup, Washington.