I'm a real newbie gardener, so please forgive what is probably a real
duh! type of question...

My new house came with a large flower garden that is covered with a
layer of what looks to me like pine-bark mulch. Lots of bulbs are
coming up at the moment. I would like to plant some perennial flowers,
such as Delphinium.

I bought the seeds, cleared a patch of mulch, dug in some compost and
fertilizer, planted the seeds, gave them a nice drink of water......
and put the mulch back on top.

This seemed like a sensible thing to do, since the whole garden is
covered with mulch, and the established plants have no trouble poking
their way up, but now I am wondering if this will work with
seedlings?

Should I clear the mulch off my planted areas, until the plants are
established? Or will they indeed make their own path up to the sun?

Thanks: John