As summer comes to an end, it's time to load up your patio pots and containers with spring bulbs to give you some welcome splashes of colour from February to May.

While many people prefer to cram their containers with a single variety of a particular bulb, you can actually plant a variety of bulbs in one pot which flower at different times and have continuous colour throughout the season.

Miek Stap, bulb adviser for the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Service, calls it lasagne' planting, where bulbs are planted in large pots in three layers.

"Start with the deepest one, usually the late flowering bulbs such as tulips. With a large container you can try lily flowering tulips such as Tulipa West Point (yellow). In the second layer, which is higher up in the pot, put something such as daffodils or hyacinths, or if they are too big, plant muscari which will flower in March and April.

"The last layer, planted just below the surface, should be something which flowers early such as crocus or snowdrops."

Anyone who thought you should never plant tulips with daffodils should think again, says Stap.

"They should never be placed together in a vase because when you cut daffodils they release a slimy substance containing bacteria which will affect tulips, reducing their staying power as a cut flower."

While many gardeners opt for a single colour in their containers, Stap insists that those who enjoy what she calls "the party of spring" should not be inhibited and plant bright shades of yellows and reds togethers.

"Personally, I still think it's beautiful to have a white flowering container from February to May, which is possible," she adds.

If you are careful with your lasagne planting, there shouldn't be a need to worry about unsightly leaves and fading flowers from one bulb before another one emerges.

"Select a particular daffodil as the in-between planting and don't plant too many," she advises.

"Pick off the faded daffodil flowers as they finish, then the emerging tulips should cover all the leaves left by the daffodils."

She warns against planting too many bulbs of each selection in the same pot, which will lead to overcrowding and poor performance.

"The bulbs should flower but the leaves will look terrible because they won't have space to die down properly."

You need to do lasagne planting in September, using a deep container which is as broad as possible at the base. Arrange crocks in the bottom and throw in a little compost.

Plant your layers of bulbs, placing bedding such as winter-flowering pansies on top, so the surface is never left bare. Other winter plantings which will flourish before the bulbs push through include winter kale and helleborus.

Good dwarf daffodils for containers include the golden yellow Tete a Tete, creamy lemon Minnow and creamy yellow Hawera. Suitable dwarf tulips for containers include the vermilion T. praestans Fusilier, which has as many as six pointy-petalled flowers to one bulb, which open wide to the sun.