I had always followed the planting instructions in the past.... But last fall, we planted tons of bulbs and I completely ignored the spacing suggestions. I planted tulips and daffs together. Usually 3 bulbs in the same hole (1tulip with 2 daffs). All of my older tulips planted alone get eaten by the rabbits, leaves and all. The daffodils have kept the rabbits away from the bulbs I planted last year and they are thriving. Don't seem to have any problem being grouped.

I never plant bulbs at the distance recommended, I pack them in cheek by jowl in the ground and in pots. The ones in pots get repotted every year so can check if they need a bigger pot, in the ground I lift and divide when they start to look to clumpy.

We are going to experiment this year and let a couple of tulip bulbs/ flowers stay until the tops produce pods. The pod produces seeds and then you grow these into little bulbs and try planting these out for next season.
I will blog when I have done this to let you know what the success rate is.

It will take anything up to five years for you to have flowering size bulbs JohnR. The first year after sowing all you will see above the soil in the pot is what looks like grass.