Plant Check - Summer Temps/Growing Conditions?

I want very much to have a shade garden as I've been without shade for about 8 years. I dearly love shade plants and have the opportunity thru the coop group to get my hands on some Caladiums. However, the supplier is concerned that they may not do wonderful here as the summer temps might not be high enough. I guestimated that "we" see mid 70's for most of the summer.... as I've not spend a summer here, I'd like your thoughts on Caladiums and how they do/might do here.

Any help you can provide would be wonderful.

Kris, I grow them every year. They definitely perform better in those rare "hot" summers. Last summer was pathetic: they struggled along with the other heat loving plants.
I don't give them as much shade here, either - they get morning sun until noon or 1. Same for Fuchsias & Begonias.
Siting will be particular to your neck of the woods - it is typical for those of us east of Seattle to be 7-10° warmer than Seattle temps in the summer, and about the same, but cooler in the Winter.
You'll certainly be warmer in Carnation, but take into consideration your exposure to the summer breezes, etc.
I say: grow them!
=:0) K

Glad to hear they will do well here with some consideration. I'm going ahead and getting them, we'll see how I do in siting them appropriately.

Perhaps we'll have an unusually warm summer.... Thanks for weighing in.

I always hope for a HOT summer, plan for a warm one. Last year was a lesson in Patience & the Practicality of Reality.

Caladiums are very much worth growing here - they don't demand a lot, and I can bring them indoors without too much fuss in the winter. A greenhouse would solve many of these issues. Still working on convincing a non-gardener of that one...

LBF..... You might try going some place that has some of those decorative rocks for gardens, you know that they sometimes sell in bags, and see if you can get obsidian or some other dark rock the size of gravel. Or sometimes pet places have dark colored rocks that will work that people use for their terariums. Anyhow, I have chunks of obsidian that I place around the bottom of plants that I want to warm up a little faster. they hold heat better than light colored rocks. But, I think that will only work if the plant at least gets some light to warm up the rocks. I don't think that it will work in an area that doesn't get any light.

Red that's a great idea. Between you and Katye I should be able to decently grow them here. I'll plan on morning sunshine spots and afternoon shade. With the rock, I might be able to mimic some more 'southern' climate temps. I wanted to plant them in the ground, but I think I might sink some pots so I can bring them in for winter. Otherwise, I'll have way too many to dig them all for storage. I'm a procrastinator by nature so hoping to squeeze the last little bit of flowering from everything. I hate to admit that growing season is over, I don't like being inside very much.

Katye, I too would love a green house. Seed house/storage shed might be as good as it gets for me. Although I will be very greatfull for that.

Thanks for the ideas, I'm going ahead with my order.

Hope you get lots! =:0)

Sifting through old threads to see what I missed and this one popped up. I think Katye has better success with caladiums than I do, which points out the importance of your microclimate around here as well as whether we get enough heat. When I've done well with them, it's been because I've bought potted ones early in the summer and put them in already leaved out. I wish they did better hear because I do love them. I recommend you start them in the greenhouse.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give it a whirl. Need to get the seed house built if it would stop raining/snowing/raining/flooding. Not much luck with anything these days.

Um, welcome to the northwest, Ladybugg. Now you know why we are all manic in the summer. I always have good intentions of getting stuff done during the winter, but unless you want to work outside in the rain, it's generally not happening. Especially when it gets dark before 5:00. Many of us have outdoor lights we use in the winter when we're working outside. Don't worry, ,you'll get used to it and learn how to work around it. I know everyone is saying that this winter has been strange, and it has a bit with the cold and snow, but in terms of rain/wind/ flood - we get it every year. Right on schedule.

Well, um - for your area, Kris - it HAS been a bit unusual. What with the move and then multiple no eletricity days and then no water and then the restricted access to your place with record-setting snow and floods and washed-out roads, I'd say you've seen the worst. It sounds like it's been pretty much trial by fire for you

We do get a lot of rain and grey days, but the rain isn't usually torrential . . . just cold and dank.

Well, true enough, but we do get flooding just about every year. Not this bad, but I'm glad I don't live in the valley. Hopefully this has been the worst and next year will be easy for everyone. Trial by fire, indeed! If you get through this, the rest will be a piece of cake. And summer is generally awesome. We always look forward to that.

Ladybug I wish I could send you some of my well water. Mine is overflowing by about 4 feet.
We had no water for a few days because the above ground pump was under water. Back to almost normal now as long as we run the horse trough for a few hours everyday to keep the water level down. We've been in this house 20 years and our well has never overflowed. Nor has it ever gone dry which is a good thing as it's hand dug and only 21 feet deep.

This past few weeks has been very sad, but serves as a reminder of the necessity for being prepared. I heard a report last night about the snow event in 1950 (?) that lasted an entire month. Must have supplies for 2 - 3 weeks, not days.
Caught me off guard, once again. But - this time I had enough bottled water, and wouldn't you know - no need to use it! Gasoline was quickly becoming an issue. And the cost has jumped up again.

Thistle, Wow you are over flowing, Dang I have a 16' hand dug well and it went dry on me, when it was so cold, we thought the pump went out found out we had 2" in the well. DH went out and got 200' of garden hose brought the creek pump out and filled it from the creek. we only use during the summer because my well will dry up if I use it to water my gardens. I've had my share of bad winters, been in Kitsap for 25 years have been thu a lot of stressful problems, which over time you learn to be ready for anything and on top of it. The only thing that was really bad for me this year was I did not have the right kind of car. I blew mine up during summer and had to borrow my bros little car which is not a 4wd. Spent lots of $ on a generator did not have to use as yet this year, but did the last 2 years.
Funny how differant areas are so intense each year.

2007 from Pix's sister
http://www.slide.com/r/QHBGje6J0j-HbfAsz-Js6rwsFnc-ujRp?current_view=TICKER&previous_view=TICKER_MENU_SHARE&previous_action=SHARE&cid=720575940386913186

I am glad to hear that Summer will be awesome! I don't mind the dark/grey and fog/drizzle I can work outside in that. Even the cold isn't bad. It's been years since I lived with a well and I'd gotten used to city creature comforts (more than I thought). We're fairly well set with food/bottled water for the family but can't live too long without a shower. I didn't think about how much water my big dogs need on a daily basis and that's been bottled also - 2gal/dog/day is lots to bring in for an extended time. Thistle, I wish you could send me some water it would ease the delivery of 1000/3 wks. Nice that you have water at 21 feet although hand digging wouldn't have been a job I'd want. Our well is 275' and they need a boom truck to pull the pump motor up to begin checking systems to find the problem. I'm hoping it's not dry but we should know this week. Flood water has receded nicely and all roads are open here so the well guys can come have a look. A generator is on the long list of things to get done for 2009.

Wow Tilly, those pictures are incredible. I know this area floods fairly regularly as we have 2 large rivers that converge here in Carnation. I can manage not getting out and around for a few days at a time, even a week but I'd hate to have a medical emergency. We're lucky to be located so far up the hill, so our issues although uncomfortable are manageable. I love the warmer weather, can't wait to get some more of the garage cleaned out and get started on seeds. Kiddos are driving me crazy about when to start veggies... getting started on that this weekend. Hoping to get the garden perimeter in and the raised boxes set up and filled. Now if it would just stay dry a little bit, imagine all the work I could get done.