Spring bulbs

[SweetPeaPods]

DH planted loads of spring bulbs last winter, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths etc. they have now all flowered and died off. There are some in pots, mainly daffodils and hyacinths. Can we use these pots this summer? What is easier to do? Should we leave the bulbs in and cut the green leaves and stalks back or take the bulbs out? I don't fancy having to replant all the bulbs this October but would like some colour in the pots over the summer. The same with the tulips in the borders?
TIA

I would take the bulbs out of the pots and start again with summer stuff in fresh compost, or possibly a 50:50 mix of old and new compost with some extra food in it. Plant the bulbs in your borders in the ground. Don't cut back the leaves as they need them now to make and store food for next year.

Tulips can be left in the borders; let the leaves die back naturally for as long as you can bear it and then plant on top of them. They may not come back next year though, they can be unpredictable.

Fab thanks. We're pretty new to gardening, and the garden isn't very big. I love spring bulbs but don't really want to look at their leaves for the few months once the flowers have gone.

2 general rules for bulbs seem to be 1. you only get one good flowering season out of them in pots then they need to go in the ground 2. you get much better results the following year if you leave the foliage alone for 6 weeks after flowering.

Tulips are v hit and miss as lady says. I find the more classic tulip shaped ones seem to come back better than more unusual shapes in my garden. Monty Don says to think of them like bedding and only expect one year out of them (having said that I have some that have been coming up for 3 or more years)

Daffodils are better for coming up year after year although I think the foliage looks much messier afterwards.