I start planting in October, putting in Daffodils, snowdrops, Grape Hyacinths,Crocus and Squill .Spread the planting out over a couple of weeks as you don't want ALL your Daffs out at exactly the same time! I leave Tulips until December and have even planted them in February before now and they still came up. Snowdrops can also be planted "in the green" which means when they've stopped flowering but still have green foliage which means you can plant them in the spring.

I would hope to have my spring bulbs planted by the time Gaia starts. Later aquisitions get planted as soon as received. As I am sure that both Gaia and ourselves have good spring displays I am not saying that one is right and the other wrong.
I think that the important bit is to keep them out of the ground for as short a time as possible.

Have just noticed that you live in West Virginia USA....and am guessing that your climate is somewhat different to mine here in Scotland, so actually no idea when would be best for you to plant spring bulbs. Do you think that would make a difference Bulbaholic?

Provided that a gardener lives in the northern hemisphere I think that the same generalisation would apply ie from the end of summer to the end of autumn. I would suggest that Guest buys and plants the bulbs as soon as they become available and before the first frosts, whenever that is for guest.
I know that a lot of people don't plant tulips until late, Gaia, it is just a practice that I, personally, don't subscribe to.

This Autumn I'm going to plant some tulips earlier and see how they get on...that is what I love about gardening...I can try things and if it doesn't work well there's always next year! Do you lift your tulips Bulbaholic?

Autumn, or fall, as you probably call it!