Ok, so I now have this 10 x 30 foot section of yard, see -- I covered it with newspaper and a solid 3-4 inches of cypress mulch about a month and a half ago so any weeds or grass growing there is pretty much history. :) There's a nice sized crabapple in the middle of the bed as well as ample trees in the yard that shade the area well (all deciduous by the way -- a redbud, black walnut, couple of maples). I have a couple of roses along the back edge (big white stone wall that is a foundation for the neighbor's house) and peonies come up in the center strip, but that's it -- nothing else grows in this area right now. My goal, my mission in life -- to fill the area with bulbs. :) Here's the catch -- in late winter and early spring, this area gets lots of sun starting with mid to late afternoon. By mid spring when everything has leafed out it gets less but still does ok -- by late spring when the black walnut leafs out it will get dappled afternoon sun and that's it. By late summer the pattern begins to reverse itself as the black walnut loses its leaves (to give an idea, the tree is pretty much bare already). I would like to come up with a planting scheme that will give me a variety of interest in this bed. Some early bloomers through to late bloomers. I've no problem with foliage (I plan on putting some hosta in there as well) but I'd really like to see something that will attract butterflies, give some much needed color, and so forth. The full 30' back of the bed is bordered by my neighbor's stone wall foundation. This is further painted white. The entire front yard is in and of itself a microclime but this wall adds to that effect for the obvious reasons and will benefit the bed. So, I'm looking for some suggestions on what to put in the bed and how to arrange them. We're in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6A, SW Ohio -- average winter temps get down to right about zero with an occasional negative dip as low as -10. James