Advice on Proper Bulb Care: before, during & after bloom

I am getting ready to buy some bulbs in quantity and would like to know the proper care for them.

Living in 7b we have mild winters and brutally hot summers.
if i buy this fall do plant then too?
what to feed once bulb begins to grow and bloom?
do i leave in ground or take-up, if so when?
do i store bulbs in brown paper bag in fridge? if so when?
(we do not have a basement)

wanting to get it right . . .

50glee, what bulbs do you have in mind?
Alexandra

tulips, daffodils, alliums i think i need advice.

and ive some caladiums already in the back shade area.
these should be dug-up before frost and stored in a brown paper bag over winter.
should these be place in fridge or does that defeat the purpose of digging them up??

i know - i dont know . . .

You don't need to store cladiums in the fridge. Just keep them dry.

I don't know everything about bulbs, but, I have never heard of anyone in the US have great success with tulips as perennials.

Daffodils, Muscari, Brodiaea, Allium, Crocus, Galanthus, Hyacinthus, Fritillaria, Scilla, Camassia, Eremurus, and Lilies are considered to be the best bets.

In Holland they have success with tulips, but, they have dig them up and store them.

There are some hybrid Tulips that are more likely than others to be reliable perennials. I've had pretty good luck with Darwin Hybrids and late singles. Tulips prefer to be bone dry during summer dormancy, planting deeply in an area you don't irrigate is helpful, as well as fertilizing (with bone meal or commercial bulb fertilizer).

Many of the species Tulips are reliable perennials for me, and most of them even multiply.

When choosing Daffodils, it would be wise to make sure they're recommended for southern gardens. Brent&Becky's lists good varieties for mild winter zones.

There's a co op going on from eflowergarden right now. I've received lots of excellent bulbs from them, and the prices can't be beat.