Auger
Even if you will never plant a bulb for the rest of your life, you may find a planting auger a useful tool. It is basically a drill bit that will drill large holes into the ground. It comes in a wide variety of lengths and widths, so you can pick the size that best fits your needs. For instance LaVille says that she likes to place daffodil bulbs in a hole that is 6-8” deep, with a little extra depth to mix in bone meal. Recently we were able to plant 56 bulbs in about 40 minutes.
A more general use for a planting auger is simply to loosen soil. If you are trying to plant in an area of your garden that has really hard soil, you can use an auger to drill several holes over a small area just so you can manage digging. Where you may have turned to using a pick axe, it will be much easier to use the power of a drill to fight through the spoil.
Another use for the auger is to aide you in removing a plant from large pots. A great number of large pots are constructed to be narrower at the top. If a plant becomes literally pot-bound, you can use an auger to drill holes around the edge of the pot until the plant and soil can be removed. That is a better option than simply breaking the pot to save a valued plant.
It really is amazing to discover how fast these augers work. But since they use a lot of energy, you may need a corded drill if you have a great number of holes to drill.
You can order a planting auger by googling that term. Amazon has a wide variety of augers at a wide range of prices.
Happy drilling!
Stan, The Tool Man