Yep, they'll work. You'll need to dig them up after the first frost though if you want to save them for the next year. I planted some tubers back in April and they JUST poked through, must be the cool year we've had. Not sure about special varieties - I just picked some up on impulse at Menards.

On a side note but maybe along the same lines, has anyone else had gladiolus overwinter? I have some along the side of the house that are currently blooming that I planted not this spring but the spring before....

Yes, this happens to me, too, every once in a while. Sometimes I think I must have missed one when I dug them up, and sometimes I think it's the little bitty ones that fall off as you lift the big ones. Either way, if it has made it through one winter, I leave it alone. Free flowers!