Rudy, I am assuming that Houston refers to Houston, TX but that really would not make much difference except you do have a much longer growing season than the rest of us. Definitely plant your cannas now and provide them with plenty of sun and water. In Houston, Texas you will likely see blooms this year providing your great deal cannas are healthy. As for your other bulbs I suspect they will survive better being planted. Kent

Hello again, How did you ever give up subtropical temps to move to NE? I think you may need to lighten your clay soil a bit, but since you already have stuff in the ground, you will know soon enough. Sometimes the bulbs around here don't come up because the squirrels and other creatures eat them during the winter months. Some gardeners go to great lengths to prevent this from happening. My mom swears her neighborhood squirrels were on the look out when I was planting and they'll be digging them when no one is looking! Different type bulbs require differing depths. I would follow directions for whatever you are planting regardless of the the temp of the soil. You are not alone liking goldenrod. Around my way, most of us yank them as weeds but others actually plant it, so its all in the eye of the beholder, I guess. Pesky weeds seem to be so hardy! Mulch may help limit the weeds, but if your soil is so much clay, you probably don't want to mulch. I would suggest soil analysis or start another post regarding clay soil. I have learned from some very knowledgable gardeners here on GW - very generous with their expertise. Good luck and welcome to NE. Sorry this has been such a harsh winter. Susan

You normally plant gladiolus in spring and generally no earlier than 2 weeks before the average last frost date. 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

who knew.. titles used to not be editable .. go figure... thought for a minute there i was losing my sanity ... shut up the rest of you .. lol .. plant at recommended depth ... you dont have to fill the hole all the way back up .. as it acclimates ... you can backfill more ... or just fill up the hole in fall after dormancy ... im presuming the lily will stay in the ground .. so it will need to be at proper depth.. if you think you can remember.. you can reset it in fall ... i have no clue if dahlia need to be lifter for a z8 winter ... but same logic ken