It is really hard to tell the right way up for anemones, I agree. The planting instructions usually tell you to soak them just before you plant them and sometimes - but only sometimes - that can make things a little clearer, but I will confess now to putting them in any way and leaving them to sort it out themselves. And they do.
As for the gladiolus callianthus ( which I still call acidanthera) they are not usually so difficult to tell which way is up because they are sort of mushroom shaped. The dome is the top and the convex side is the bottom where the roots will be. Hope this helps.

Some people find that if they really can't tell a solution that seems to work is to plant them edge on, which doesn't seem to bother them at all.