Red Caladium Favorites!

Need your vote before I order some red bulbs from online. What is your favorite red centered caladium?

And has anyone here happily ordered from caladiumbulbs4less.com ?

Leaning towards this one: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57319/


50 bulbs for $38 plus shipping?

Hmmm one above, "Florida Cardinal" PF says it is part shade but the caladiums for less site has it as sun tolerant?

if you want full sun, then Red Flash is the best. It is taller than Fla Cardinal. Fla Cardinal will do ok in NC in full sun-but it is kind of hard to say for you as I have no idea where you live-that would help :)

Thanks for the info. Not looking for full sun. Area is mostly partly shaded so that's why I thought I was safe from PF's listing but then the co. says okay in full sun? We're in TX.

Thinking though. I bought box of 25 for 13 @ sam's club so that's 52 cents each. With this mail order company I'd be paying 80 cents a piece since they have 15.99 shipping.

With another $15 I could just renew my sams and get more bulbs in the spring....

But just thinking on it.

For 80 cents DH says to order them----says they are grade 1. Anyone know what that means?

grade 1 is the size of the bulb, grade 1 is usually about 2.5- 3" across and grade 2 is smaller-maybe 1.5-2" across, depending on the type of caladium.

thank you.

May I jump in -
The very BEST place to get caladium bulbs, bulb information regarding colors, sun/shade, largest size bulbs is Bill at Caladiumbulb4less. I'm currently finishing up a co-op for these bulbs. Sorry you missed it. Look in the CO-OP thread and see the wonderful comments about these bulbs. Sounds like both you ladies need Bill's help.

Check out his feedback too - even DAVE - DG Dave left wonderful comments for Bill.

Kathy

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/5978/

read the feedback

Oh not complaining he might have a nice company! I was just meerly looking at price. I bought some rather small caladium bulbs in the spring at a box store near me for less per bulb than should I order them.

I did review your co-op prior to it expiring. I'm just not that advanced in the world of DG to be interested in joining in in a co-op. I'm so old school :( LOL. Hence my delay in ordering plants by mail. :)

I ordered from caladiumbulbs4less.com and was very pleased. I also D-mailed them and they were quick to respond. Not sure about the price compared to others. When i found them on Dave's garden I prefered to order from them.

I likely will order from them also :). Reviews are great!!!!! I just was pricing around. Wishing I'd bought more this spring. But am happy his bulbs are much larger even if they are more!

Tir,
One thing you have to look at, as I've learned over the years FROM DG - is price and quality are 2 different things. For example, in my experience, I would buy caladiums for say $1 per bulb - it may be the size of a nickle. Then I learned of Caladiumbulb4less (after buying from Caladium World which I think is, or should be out of business). I thought I would try it. I placed my first order for a dozen or so cause I didn't want to spend a ton on something I COULD get at WalMart for $1 each. So using $3 as the example, I paid for the bulb - these are at times, depending on the type you get - as large as my palm - not my hand - but far larger than a 50 cent piece. That larger bulb WILL make a larger plant - more leaves, better and stronger growth. Bulbs that I can get a full effect from vs. a tiny little single leaf thing that poops out.

I experienced the same thing with clematis - I got the walmart $4.97 thing and when planted I had MAYBE 1 root that was 4 inches long. They died. Then I tried Lowes and got the $10 clematis just dying to have these beautiful purple flowers climb on my mailbox. Even last week I did the same thing I did 2 weeks before - I turned the clematis pot upside down and let it fall out - you could barely see roots, the dirt just fell off. Then I said - okay we'll give this a try and go for broke. I ordered on reputation from Silver Star vinery - you need to look at the root balls on these plants - which were about $15 each - I can't recall. But even with shipping it was well worth it. I had clematis climbing and blooming that year. Please look at the roots on the Clematis forum and the picture will be the root ball. I've since ordered 30 or so from them and all root balls were that large with the exception of 2 or 3 and that was the variety and age. She doesn't let them leave the nursery until they are a few years old - not sure if that would be 2 or 3 year old plants but you WILL see the difference.

I've been here sine 2004 and I learned everything from these wonderful gardeners. Still learning too. But I promise - if you take it from WatchDog and get from a good company - it will make a difference in what you get. Bluestone has great ratings, good customer service, but their plants are small - at least what I have purchased about 3 years ago. So you need to ask around and see what people write about the item.

That's my 2 cents worth.

Thank you for the reviews. :) Always good to hear since I'm so new to this all.

GW is awesome. And I love that Bill even includes a direct link to his GW reviews on his homepage.

Bill is a great guy. Very friendly and helpful.

If mine have sprouted just recently but I want to transplant them....risk of damage? Or other advice?

I don't think you should have any problem, as long as you are careful to bring enough soil with them. I have gotten caladiums the last 2 years from Caladiums4Less, (via the DG Co-op that Kathy runs with Bill), and I start them in pots, then move them to wherever they're going to reside for the rest of the season. No transplantation issues at all. I'm assuming yours are in the ground, but that shouldn't be a problem either. Since they don't have a tap root, they can be dug fairly easily.

I have ordered caladiums from both Brent & Becky's Bulbs and Caladiums4Less in the past, and both are VERY high quality and size, but Bill's prices just cannot be beat. And during the co-op... well, let's just say I had to place an order for more POTS to accommodate what I'm expecting to be delivered sometime soon. ;->

Hope this helps...........Barb

Thank-you! I consulted Bill since I got my stock from him and he confirmed they should perk back up in a day or two! Such hardy plants!

remember to leave feedback for us

Kathy