Bulbs - what on earth (!) do you plant on top of them?

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I have a nice rockery of sorts - snowdrops come through in January or thereabouts and they look great! But for the rest of the year, what can go on that bit of earth? You can't easily dig any plants into it, as you just end up digging up the nice bulbs and ruining the January display for next year. I suppose forget-me-nots sort of go alright there, but they're only May or thereabouts. The same problem is in the front garden - nice lot of grape hyacinths and tuiips there too, but what goes on top of all that around now? Ditto bluebells I guess. Any thoughts?

You can dig other plants in, if you're careful making the holes. I have loads of tulips, snowdrops and daffodils early in the year, and now in the same beds I have loads of perennials. Perennials are probably better than annual bedding plants, because you don't have to keep digging them in every year so once they're in their roots then just co-exist with the bulbs. Many of them die back completely each winter, and don't start to properly come up again until the bulbs are ending which works well.
I usually damage a few bulbs when digging each year, but I still get a good number coming up each spring. Bulbs will spread so they will generally replace any that are damaged by your activities.

Thanks - at the risk of labouring my enquiry, what perennials do you recommend?

I have geums among the tulips. They usually come up as the tulips are coming to an end. Also Astrantia. I also have Gaura which comes up later in the season. Maybe dahlias. But in fact any perennial that comes back from the ground will do. Try heleniums, verbascum or veronicastrum. Have fun!

I have hardy geraniums. Big clumps, with leaves capable of hiding any fading bulb foliage

I have hardy geraniums, chrysanthemums, nepeta, euphorbia, hollyhocks, Michaelmas daisies, chives, perennial sunflowers, yellow loosestrife, dogwoods, rose campion, bunnies ears growing in the same place where the bulbs dwell.

You could either plant perennials when the bulbs have finished flowering but still have leaves (so you can see exactly where they are), or use seeds and not have to dig holes. Poppies, forget-me-nots, viola and oxalis would all grow easily from seed.

I was wondering this myself the other day would this work for flower pots too?

I have peonies and phlox which both die away completely and don't emerge until the bulbs are done. I then cheat and put in some annuals as plug plants.

This year it's osteospermum (which can be perennial in some areas but don't seem to be in Scotland)

This is good stuff so I have copied and pasted onto a word doc.

Will have to Google some of these recommendations though!

You could put something evergreen in too depending on size of your rockery space. Sedums would worry well or semperveriums. .

I planted roses, lavenders, azaleas, forget me nots, pinks, carnations, peonies and foxgloves first, in various beds, and then went round in the autumn putting tulip and daffodil bulbs in the gaps between them.
The bulbs come up each year, then self seeding poppies, primroses and forget me nots flourish wherever they can squeeze in between the perennials and the dying off leaves of the bulbs. I stick summer annuals in as well if I can be bothered. The bulbs are planted deeply enough not to mind!

This makes sense, I've been putting the cart before the horse...