They are one of my favorites, Skybird! They are so pretty. They look gorgeous paired with Black Eyed Susan (common Rudbeckia Hirta), both have the same bloom time.
But... they are not perennial for me in any of my beds. I've never soaked them but I do know that moldy bulbs never amount to much. They will come up and bloom this year if you plant them in May. Mine have been happy in partial shade.
For frame of reference, I believe your yard is 10-14 days ahead of mine in bloom time so you must be a bit warmer. When you post photos I get excited because I know the same plants will be blooming in my yard soon. I'm at about 5800 elevation up on a ridge in Douglas County and I always have more snow than the Park Meadows area even though I'm only 1.5 miles away. If the hardiness is z5-z8 maybe you can mulch and they will survive. I have used two inches of leaf mulch and it wasnt enough in my microclimate but Im hoping it will be enough for you. Either way, they are gorgeous and carefree enough that I buy them every year.
I hope that helps!

Thank you, thank you for the great information, Azura. That really helps! When I decided to get them I was kind of assuming they wouldnÂt be hardy, so I was surprised when I found online that some people consider them z5. IÂll be surprised if they do come back, but maybe IÂll throw a few extra inches of bark mulch on top of them next fall and see what happens. Everything I read said theyÂre great cutflowers, and I keep thinking, oh, how nice, IÂll cut some and bring them insideÂbut I know when they bloom IÂm gonna want to leave them out making the yard pretty! I always wanted a cutting gardenÂbut itÂs not gonna happen with this little lot!

IÂm not sure yet where IÂm gonna plant them. When I can get out into the backyard againÂwithout wadingÂIÂll have to go out there and contemplate for a while! ThatÂs the design method of my garden! Ohmmmmmm!

ThatÂs interesting about my stuff being a little bit earlier than yoursÂand about your altitude. I wouldnÂt have even known this, but on one of the weather reports today I noticed they had the altitude of Thornton at just over 8400'. So you really are a little bit higher than me. I guess I already knew that Thornton was higher than Denver, because from "up here" we look "down" onto downtown Denver, but I never really thought about it before. If youÂre 400' higher than me, that very likely does explain the difference in bloom times.

Thanks again for the great help,
Skybird