So, either you can store them somewhere cool and dry and wait until next spring, or plant them now and cross your fingers and hope for the best.

If you plant them now, you run the risk they'll rot before they can sprout if we have an exteme amount of moisture, and the thicker and heavier and more slow-draining your soil, the greater the risk of this happening. And, even though gladiolus is normally cold-hardy in zone 7 and generally survives the winters here (mine have come back for 8 or 9 years now), that's true of living bulbs that have roots and which stored energy in the spring/summer to get through the winter. I am not sure it would be true of the long-dormant and packaged bulbs you've bought if they have been in their packaging for months and months and months. They might be so dry that the cold and/or moisture gets them.

So, I'm not sure I'd plant them now. In view of the fact that this is an El Nino year and we're expecting significantly higher-than-average levels of rainfall, I'd probably store them and plant them in late winter. If you have very, very, very well-drained soil that does not hold excessive moisture for long periods of time, you might be able to plant them now and have them survive overwintering in the ground.

Another factor to consider is the temperatures you've been experiencing in your county this fall. Here in our county, we have been running 10-15 degrees below average temps in Sept. and Oct. If that trend continues, winter will be brutal on a lot of our plants which aren't used to that cold, and it would be worse for dormant, dry bulbs.

This is one of those things where you have to consider your soil and your typical winter conditions as well as the kind of winter conditions forecast for your part of the state this year, and just make an educated guess about what might work.

Even here in far south-central OK in zone 7B, I doubt I would plant gladiolus in the fall when we're expecting a very wet, and perhaps abnormally cold, winter.

Dawn

Now can you tell me if they like full sun? Also, will it be ok to plant them all in one big hole? I've planted hyacinth bulbs before and they came up one year. Then my husband mowed them over and they didn't come back again!! I don't know why. Hopefully, these will do better for me!!

They do like full sun. Most of mine get sunlight all day long, but some only get sun until about 3 p.m. They all bloom and grow equally well here.

Hyacinths are iffy in our climate, especially in slow-draining clay soils. When I have planted hyacinths, they've mostly been short-lived--lasting 2 to 4 years. They might be longer-lived in soil that drains better.