Agreeing with your neighbor - think you got a bad bag of corms. Could have been old, seriously undersized, leftovers thrown together as a mix - hard to tell. Glads are well suited for container planting and can use a periodic dose of a Miracle-Gro like fertilizer especially when the foliage is just starting to grow. Drying out in containers could be a problem.

I wouldn't give up on buying them from the big box type stores either - they're inexpensive. And you can get bad bulbs/corms from mail order and reputable garden centers just as easily.

I don't grow glads every year (and I don't bother saving the corms over the winter when I do). Did plant them this year though, and bought the 15 corms to a package deal from our local Menard's, which is a Home Depot, Lowes type store. I shy away from the high count mixed bags, in favor of the boxes of the single color Gladiolus Grandiflorus - tall flower stalks, large florets. You can see through the package to judge if the corms are large, healthy, etc.

When I grow them, it's for cut flowers for the house, but I like the sword-like foliage in the gardens in any case.

Thanks so much for your insight here! I will try again this spring...gladiolus grandiflorus....I'll try to remember that! :0)
BTW, are there any specific cultivar names that are better than others that I should keep my eyes open for (but aren't ultra-expensive either?) Just some really colorful ones? I love vibrant colors or picoteed types!
Thanks!
:0) Phyl

Well, as I recall, these were 15 corms for $4.95-5.95. And the picture on the plastic carton says Gladiolus Grandiflorus. I don't know from cultivars, etc. since I basically go for specific colors - this year pure white and a pure yellow and a pure peach.

If you stagger the planting a little, they don't all come into bloom at the same time.