Let's See your Caladiums

The other thread was getting to long.
We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/851631/

Thanks!!!

I love coleus, probably a little more than caladiums, but, they work well together for shady summer beds>

This message was edited Aug 10, 2008 11:45 AM

Me too....my yard is dominated by the 2....what a great mix!

Lots of potential, I will have try new color combo's next year.

I have lots of new coleus colors.

Dale those are stunning!

-Joe

nothing spells summer like caladiums and coleus.

Mary,

Do you need me to stop by with my digital camera for a photo shoot of your place?

Here are some that I saw last summer at Bok Tower, still haven't been able to find the bulbs, maybe next year.

Wow Dale, those are beauties! I really like the look of the caladiums and coleus together. I REALLY, REALLY, LOVE that caladium in the last photo. I sure would like to know the name of that one!

One is June Bride and the other looks like Jackie Suthers

Oh Thank you Bill ... I'm writing down both of those names!

I'm sure about the June Bride(the one w/ the thin green veins) I'm 90% sure on the other one

I saw this today, it seems like a less than glamorous combination>

I agree Dale, looks kind of washed out.
Last year I had one little misplaced Caladium it must have been a very small bulb that fell on the ground when I was potting up my caladiums and ended up in a small hole between a couple of railroad ties that support my patio. I got such a kick out of it. Well this year I have a couple more. Must have ended up in my potting soil. Here is one mixed in with my Lantana planter.

Here is the other one even smaller. It's growing in a wreath that I made with Impatiens and Ivy

Good evening! This is my first year doing massive caladiums and I need to do some refining for next year.

But, I want to show you two pictures of caladiums I found at my husband's work. (P.S., DH took the pictures and, aw, well) These are planted on a 3 foot tall berm about 6 ft out. This type of display is beautiful for caladiums and not one I had seen before. Needless to say, I am building some berms for next year.

Just one more and I will quit!

As I said not the best pictures. And this is not the right one! Sorry, I don't know how to edit the pictures.

I will try to get a better one tomorrow where you can see the whole bed and the rise of elevation and how beautiful it is.



This message was edited Aug 15, 2008 10:49 PM

This message was edited Aug 15, 2008 10:51 PM

these were purchased (from Bill) & planted at the beginning of July. It was a mixed 5lb bag, so there isn't any rhyme or reason to where they all ended up. still, i think it looks nice & gave us some color out in this bed (which used to be completely full of just Indian Hawthornes).

since this is my first time working with caladiums, i'm wondering if it's worth digging up & storing the bulbs once the season's over. or is it better to just start fresh next year?

Jenepat: That is a really pretty bed! I love the mixture of the different Caladiums ... I don't think anyone can go wrong when purchasing the mixed bags! Caladiums go with everything, all colors look great together in my opinion!

I wonder if you could just put a heavy layer of mulch in that bed for the winter? Sometimes with a thick layer of mulch keeping the ground a bit warmer they will re-sprout the next year but I'm not sure how cold it gets where you are or how long the cold lasts in winter.

Down here I don't dig anything up ... if it comes back in spring, good ... if not, I always can order more! LOL, I'm a very lazy gardener!

Thanks! And that answers another question I had...if I don't dig them up to store, is it bad to just leave them in the ground? If they come back, great! If not, no harm no foul. Also, if I go this route can I plant winter annuals on top of them? And possibly mulch all around them? I've never quite understood if it's ok to plant on top of dormant bulbs...

I don't see why you couldn't plant winter annuals in and around the caladiums. Maybe someone else will chime in here before long. Only problem I've had in the past with caladium as well as other bulbs is them ending up getting covered with too much soil ... they get buried too deep and they won't re-sprout. So, I think you could plant the annuals "around" them but I wouldn't put any additional soil on top of the bulbs ... would probably smother them if they end up too deep.

Good to know! Maybe I can use the annuals to help "mulch" them & keep them warm without burying them too deep... Will it bother the caladium bulbs to get some water in the winter?

Here's a new one I saw at the festival. It's being released next year.
What do you think? It does great in landscape!! It produces a nice full plant.
It's called Berry Patch

Oh my goodness! I gotta have that one! Beautiful!

Ahhhh! I need new varieties! I have (only one of each) ... Mt Everest.....Twist and Shout....CandyLand....Raspberry Neon. I LOVE that one Bill, and will happily be your first customer! My White Queen and Red Flash are huge this year.

I would appreciate any detailed information anyone could give me as to when to dig and how to store caladium bulbs. I am in Delaware, zone 7, so we get some freezing weather. Also, has anyone ever successfully saved caladium bulbs from year to year. As a first time grower, it would be nice to know if that is a worthwhile project.

I'm sure you will get much better instructions for proper storage of bulbs than I will give. But yes I successfully stored my bulbs from last year and they were beautiful both last year and this year. I pulled mine mid-October last year. The ones I had in my window boxes were dug up and put in brown paper bags and the ones in pots were just brought inside and left in their pots. I just stopped watering them and left them dry up. This spring I started watering the pots again and up they came. I stored mine in an upstairs room that I use for plant starting. I slid the large pots under one of the growing tables after they died down and laid the brown bags on top of the pots. This room has a tendency to be warm all winter as the room with the wood stove is under it.
This is one of the pots that I saved from last year. This one is at my daughters house. I saved 6 large pots from last year with this method and they all look good this year.

Holly,

Thanks for sharing that. The only advice I can give is what I hear from customers like Holly. I have also heard that storing them in a paper bag filled with sphagnum moss to be a way to store them.
Thank God I don't have to dig mine up!! That would be quite the chore seeing as I have about 3000 bulbs planted.

If anybody else has any tips on how they store there caladium bulbs from one season to the next I'd love to hear there method as well. I hope everyone that participated in the co-op has been able enjoy the awesome color there plants have produced for them.

biLL

Disney World used lots of Caladiums this year, some in containers,

Some were the less common types.

Most were not real 'exciting' or unusual, but, nice to see.

One more.

Wow! Dale, those are gorgeous ... great photo's - thanks for sharing! I haven't been to Disney in many years but they always do a great job with the landscaping!

I love that berry patch gotta have some.

Bill, I have a question. Please look at the pic HollyAnn posted at 5:10 pm. The light colored white/green/mottled leaf is what I have growing from some of my caladiums that I got in the coop. I overwintered them in brown paper bags but I think it was just a little too warm in the room for them and most didn't make it. Gingerland is looking good and also the same one as in HollyAnn's pic. But the strange thing is that I never had a leaf that looked like that last year! So what do you think happened?

Red Flash and Gingerland were my faves from last year so I'm going to buy some new bulbs next spring.
Laura

Laura,

I think you meant 6:10 PM. That's a picture of Miss Muffet and Red Flash. I can't remember for sure but I think the Miss Muffet was offered in the co-op last year. I didn't offer it this year though. Maybe next year!! :-)
Storing caladium bulbs from one season to the next is anything but easy. They'll either dry out or rot if not stored properly.
I really couldn't tell you what happened though.

biLL

Oh, sorry, mine says 5:10, I'm in CST and you're in EST. :) Okay, so it's Miss Muffet, but I didn't have any that looked like that last year. I'm just baffled! Probably a mystery I'll never solve and I'll just enjoy her. lol

Oh Bill are you who we will be able to get caladiums from. I live in Zolfo Springs. When do we plant them????

"eyes" want a berry patch....is this a large or XL Leaf Bill, sun or shade, Height?

"eyes:

Thank you all for the information on storing caladium bulbs -- I think I will give it a try -- what have I got to lose -- and just think how happy I will be if it works. Becky