When to dig?

I have some bulbs that I need to dig and store for the winter. I have some glads and caladiums. Those are the ones I'm most worried about getting put away in time. I also have some cannas, calas and elephant ears that I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with yet.

Anyway, do I have to dig them before the first frost while they are still alive, or will they be okay through the first frost and then dig them? We are into September and we could have our first frost anytime after the middle of the month, and as cold as it's getting at night, I don't want to get hit with a surprise frost if they are supposed to be in before that happens.

TIA
Joan

I think digging after the plants are killed back by frost is what's recommended for most bulbs.

Thanks Sue. That's what I'll do then. I was stressing out about them because as you know, you can't second guess Mother Nature. LOL! That's why I'm dragging my brugs inside every night. They are so close to blooming that I don't want to take a chance with them. The bulbs, I wasn't sure about, but I don't want to lose them either.

joan i have3 pink brugs in the ground that have large buds and im praying we dontget to much colder-it was 48 this morning~!
Last year it got all of them as they were budding.=[
Canna blooming too right now! sigh

Dori, I have all my brugs in huge pots, so I can lug them in and out. They are just now budding, and this is my first year with brugs, so I don't want to screw them up. I NEED to see a real live brug bloom!!! I don't know what I'm going to do when they get bigger. I guess I'll have to learn how to take cuttings. I can just let them go dormant in the basement and water minimally and as long as it's dark and cool, they should be okay, right? A couple of them I'm going to try to keep growing in the bay window and patio doors if I can.

The cannas, calalilies, elephant ears, caladiums and glads are all in the ground. That's why I was so worried about them. I can't just bring them into the kitchen each night.

I hope we both have a while longer until frost, since we had such a late spring. Our growing season was shortened considerably last spring. It's getting down into the 40's here at night, but the days are still in the 70's or 80's and very humid lately.