On 21 Jun 2007 22:40:16 -0400, Jim Kingdon wrote:

Plant the flowers such as dahlias, marigolds and geraniums.
Add mulch around the bed to minimize weed growth.
(I've done that in the past and found that over time some of the mulch
spreads and thins out and weeds still manage to pop through.)

You don't say whether you turn over the soil (perhaps no, based on
your reference to bulbs) with a digging fork or rototiller.

While this certainly will not stop weeds completely, it will slow down
many of them.

Actually, tilling promotes weeds rather than suppressing them. The
soil is loaded with millions of weed seeds but only the top inch or
two get warm enough to germinate. If you deal with them using the
method of your choice then most of your weed problem is done.

But if you till the soil you bring more weed seeds into the
germination zone and it starts all over again.

There is a technique named "stale seed bed" that discourages tilling
for this reason. I am experimenting with it this year and so far it
looks pretty encouraging.

John