Which Caladiums do you have planted this year?

Mary, Can you expand on that a little? Tadpoles are't going to be tadpoles for long... I don't understand...
CJ

CJ....I switch out my tadpoles during the summer, for smaller ones, as they get larger. They also develop according to their enviroment, so 5 or 6 smaller toad or treefrog tadpoles (NOT bullfrog) will last most of the summer. They keep the water crystal clear, and the roots of the hostas clean of any decaying vegetation or disease. They provide just enough "fertilizer" to keep the plants healthy. Once they're gone for the year, I keep my plants in the water, crown at the surface, but have to change the water myself every week or so.
Kitty....At least you gave it a try! My weather is a little warmer, so by the time I get my bulbs out of the bag, they already begin to sprout. Only a few were slower varieties in the ground this year, but I grow a lot of them in pots.

Thanks, Mary. Say it's fall and they are beginning to go dormant. Now what? What do you do over the winter? So many questions. Sorry. I always thought the problem was our humidity. But putting them in water doesn't solve that. Strange....

ceejay.....In zone 9a, I'm almost wondering if you can leave yours in the ground (if they don't sit in wet areas) I don't dig mine up, I leave them in the ground to pop up year after year, and I'm in zone 9b.....we only have one cold month, maybe only 2 nights of freezing weather, and a few hit and miss frosts here and there.
Is your weather very different than that?

Sounds the same here. Unless we have a killer year... I leave them in the ground now. But I thought you had them in pots with water and tadpoles....So how did they get in the ground? Now I'm confused.... (But then, I often am....)
CJ

CJ, I think that was hostas that she had in the water with tadpoles.

Right?

Susan
=^..^=

Correct,,,,hostas/tadpoles......caladiums/in ground/in pots

Here is a new one going in the ground anyone else growing this one??

Brian,

Nice plant, what is the name of that variety?
How are ones doing I sent you?

Bill

Merry, - Yes, the hostas are grown in pots with water and tadpoles. But what do you do with the hostas when they go dormant in the fall? TIA
CJ

Because I'm in zone 9, they very rarely go fully dormant. I have one variegated variety that does, and I leave it in the water, with the crown just above the water line. If there's a freeze, I bring them in over night. Our freezes don't last more than a day or 2 usually.

Wow Brian, very nice! What is it? Inquiring minds.....

That' s very interesting, Mary. Even though our climate sounds the same, ours (all four of them) do go fully dormant and disappear completely. Weird. Thanks a bunch for the info.
CJ

CeeJay......Mine DID go dormant in the ground, which is why I had a hard time growing them. The water method seems to work better, and keep them somewhat "growing" all year long....worth a shot I guess(?) :)

Beautiful caladium Brian...

Bill....things are sprouting like crazy, I'll list pics as soon as they come up....DId you get your massive order sent off yet?

Mary,

I shipped an order for 1400 bulbs today and I'm waiting to hear back from a guy in NY who's looking for 2000 bulbs. Now those are my kind of orders, can you spell chaching...lolol....

I'll get some pictures posted soon too, I have some un-believable pots growing this year.

Bill

Here's some pictures of just a few of my pots.
First one is Blaze

Bill

Here's a nice pot of Candidum Jr.

White Wing

The Pink Symphony is really looking nice,

The June Bride on this 2nd day of June

Old Faithful!, Red Flash will look nice anywhere!!

Kathleen looking all prim and proper,

Old John Peed's looking goodddd....

Might as well surround John by girls, here's Carolyn Whorton

Some FL Sweetheart in a nice full basket,

Still my favorite, Rosebud

Galaxy, closing in on becoming my favorite....
Who am I kidding, I like em' all.....

Wooden Planter with some Scarlet Rose, Rosebud,
Mrs. WB Halderman

Some Pink Beauty,

The White Queen, the pink is disappearing by the day, Looking real nice! I need to let them get a little more sun though.

This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:28 PM

That Gray Ghost looks awesome!!!!!

An even nicer picture of the Gray Ghost

I have to laugh everytime I look at this pot. I won an auction on Ebay for some bulbs I had to have for my collection. They're Humboldtii, a rare Thai variety. I planted some of the dinkiest bulbs I have ever seen. Here's what's coming up so far.

Bill,

Those aren't even the smallest of the Thai varieties. Sweet Pink and Siam Sushi are about the size of a pencil eraser.

Having lived in Sebring for 13 years, it took a lot of convincing by my Thai supplier to even offer those, as I was used to Caladiums 5x the size for a quarter of the money, but much to my surprise, they were a big hit. The majority of those varieties are being shipped to Japan, but I'm still hoping to increase the visibility of them here in the States.

The biggest problem is that they're marketed as a regular Caladium, whereas they should be labeled a mini or dwarf. They really should be done in mini pots, and marketed as novelties, instead of typical mass planting varieties.

I'm glad to hear they at least put a smile on your face, even if not for the intended reason. ;-)

Chris

I have not, I admit, read this entire thread...but I am looking for t he largest most gaudy and flashy caladiums I can find. I have so much space to fill, I cannot begin to think of the small dainty Thai variet ies. Can anyone help....and post or send me photos and/or names of some really FLASHY red or pink or mixed colors...LARGE.

Anysuch thing as a yellow Caladium?

Aloha....The largest flashy leaves are most likely the Carolyn Whortons or the Red Flash....both take the sun very well too. If you go with the caladium relatives, you can try a bi-color rubicundrum.
No yellows as of yet....gingerland is white with rust colored dots, but I'm afraid that's about as off track as they get (from the normal pink, white, red combos)

The Thai bulbs almost made me choke when I saw the size of them. They have not yet come up, so I guess I'll know if they look ok once I get a sprout....teeeeeeeenie.......

MerryMary

Aloha,

I'd have to agree with MerryMary, the Red Flash and Carolyn Whorton would have the largest leaves and some flashy colors. There's some pictures of them in this thread. There's a couple other varieties that'll produce a plant with some good size leaves but they're not as "flashy" as the ones mentioned above. I've never seen a yellow caladium either, a regular one anyway, I have a rare Thai one coming up that looks like it'll have yellow leaves, either that or it's dying...lolol...

Bill

Is that Parichat Bill? It has a yellow/lime color, with red veins.

Chris

Chris,

Yes, it is Parachat. Pretty leaves on it!!!
Is that a mini also?

Bill

MerryMary and CJ--I have a bed that is tucked under the eaves of my house and is protected from the rain and wind. I planted white queen caladiums under there about 4 years ago and they come back every year without be doing a thing to them. So I think CJ is right on when she said it might be the fall rains that do them in and make them rot. I always have caladiums in that bed and only ones that go back into that area last and come back. Some of them I have lost by getting in there and cultivating the soil so this year I only have a couple left after 4 years.

bwilliams--that pic is a very nice plant.

Bill--Sounds like you and Diane are busy with the business! Glad to hear that you are doing well. The pictures of your caladiums are very nice. Thanks so much for sharing and educating. I love love love the Florida Sweetheart hanging basket you posted. I am so glad that I chose to add those to my collection. Can you answer me a question? About how many bulbs do you have planted in your pots? I planted quite a few pots up last week with bulbs and am just fretting over whether or not I overplanted.

I walked out the door this morning and saw that I had 2 pink clouds coming up today. Yesterday I had 3 more Florida Cardinal's pop up and one leaf out. Boy is it pretty, for a first leaf. I have a hanging basket full of little baby Ms. Muffett's. Waiting on others to come up and I will share pics.