Wow, Opp. That big esculenta makes the regular plants around it look like miniatures. It sure likes all the goodies and water it's getting!

One small Thai caladium in my yard that seemed like it was worth a picture. They're pretty wimpy but the colors are so nice I put up with them.

Stunning, I'm not much on caladiums but that's nice!
It's called stained glass, no?

Went on a hunt and found a couple more Thais that were tucked away. They're pretty small, but the leaves are thicker and more wavy than most of my other caladiums.

Spotty one is 'Jungle Rain' and the other is 'Black Thai' in a pot with another bulb of 'The Pearl' same as the one above. They seem to be mixing it up in that pot . . naughty plants! Some of the leaves had colors from both types. I really like the stained glass effect. The ones LariAnn was working on that she called 'Stained Glass' had white backgrounds. I think these look more like stained glass myself.


A few more, White Queen, Hilo Beauty, Gingerland and Miss Muffet

Gorrrrgeous! Simply gorgeous! Just wait when my husband sees these! He will want them, I know. So, I gotta ask. I have never seen specialty Caladium or Elephant ears in the stores. Did you order them online? Where, please? Caladium are Dh's favorites. He plants 60 Caladium bulbs from Sam's each year. They are standard NOID. I would love to surprise him with these on Christmas. Here are his Super Sixty along with Spider Plant, Elephant Ear, Butterfly Ginger, a new Loquat tree, and Sweet Potato Vine on the Trellis.

I love that Stained Glass too. I have a few Caladiums, a bunch are NOIDs - In the first picture one is (please correct me if I'm wrong) John Peed, the red and green and another Calypso, upper right hand corner though I'm not sure about that one as it doesn't really look like pictures of Calypso - have no idea as to what the green and white ones are. The 2nd picture is Miss Muffet which I really, REALLY like .. it seems to do best in the greenhouse. Unfortunately they are not hardy in my zone so I have to dig them up every year.

Swayback thanks for the great pics. You are exactly what the tropicals forum has been missing and I am very happy to welcome you here. Great fertilizer advise. I was just looking at the bloom booster for my liquafeed yesterday and decided to pass until next year. Since it is good for 5-8 years I'll wait for the big sales at the end of the year and stock up. Makes good sense for my postage stamp size yard. BTW you did mention now you can see my problem but it seems to me more of an addiction. Looks like your sophisticated fertilizing system gets good use in your tropical paradise. Don't know why I've been lugging those watering cans all of these years, oh yeah I had to justify my watering can collection (obsession) to my DH. You have inspired me to take some pics next week I will post here.

I ordered a Hozon and it arrived Wednesday .. worked like a charm! My new best friend. It's so nice not to spend all morning mixing up buckets and buckets and buckets of food for my whole yard. Normally it takes 3 hours to feed the front and back and I did the whole yard with the Hozon in less than an hour! Yippppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

They work great for washing the car and stuff, too X! My problem with the hose-end sprayer, and my power washer, (my favorite toy) is when I get going with them, anything not moving gets washed! I can't stop.

Anyway, Cheryl my favorite source for Caladiums as of this year is Caladiums4Less. www.caladiums4less.com They are nearly as cheap (aside from shipping) as what you get at the big box stores, but HUGE bulbs, so healthy and have grown wonderfully. They do have a policy against shipping in winter "Bulbs that are shipped before the last frost date in your area are not guaranteed and we can not be held responsible. " So a holiday gift might not fly.

The Thai Caladiums I've been posting above all came from Lowe's, already leafed out, in pots. Check their nursery on a regular basis and I'll bet you'll find them. These came back for their 3rd year this year, but I'm sure if we get a 'cold' winter I will have to protect them. They are much more tender than the regular Caladiums and disappear as soon as the nights cool off here.

I did order my EE's online from McLure and Zimmerman - www.mzbulb.com. But I only have a few. See if you can trade for some starts with people here first, I'll bet you'll get better plants just for the cost of postage. If you get desperate, you can also try the Aroids forum.

Dyz I love those the pearl!
Jungle rain is nice too, remind if Caladium rubicundum (sp?)

I've also deceided I must acquires a few Hilo beauty, it seems the whole issue with nomenclature stems from the fact that no ones ever documented a flower, gunna have to try my hand at that!

Greenthumb- I always send people towards briansbotanicals.net super nice guys great plants and great prices, it's we're the majority of my collection came from, he's an EE breeder, eBay is a great source too, but buyer beware, you don't alway get what you expect, or pay for!
Brian sells there too!
So do I!
If your seriously interested you can tree mail me.

Susan thank you so much for the kind words, things like that make it worth posting! It alsways nice to be appreciated!
Watering cans are great for houseplants and pots, forget it in the yard!

Much of my experience comes from being a 6th generation farmer, but I've also been growing and collecting plant for 15 years, I'm 30 ish...and much of that time I've made a living from plants
There's a ridiculous amount of misinformation out there, as well as under utilized technology, I really try to cut thru the fog and do things the right way, not just doing things "the way it's been done"

Thanks so much, Elaine and Swayback. (insert blowing kisses icon) Last Frost Date for Zone 9a is Feb 15th. I see a Valentine's gift in the future!! I don't want to wait!! Might have to grab up a few before then!

I've really liked my Hilo Beauty, Sway. I think it looks a lot like Mojito except only two colors. It's been really dependable.

Cheryl, I forgot to say what a gorgeous flower border that is in your picture above! Lovely combo of colors and leaf shapes. The loquat looks like it might be struggling a bit . . EEs are getting all the water, huh?

One more Caladium, if you can stand it! This one - Scarlet O'Hara - and Gingerland are the ones I ordered from Caladiums4Less this spring. Bulbs were the size of a plum. This pot has 3 bulbs in a 12in. pot. I don't think your DH will need 60 of them.

dyzzypyxxy said:I've really liked my Hilo Beauty, Sway. I think it looks a lot like Mojito except only two colors. It's been really dependable.

Cheryl, I forgot to say what a gorgeous flower border that is in your picture above! Lovely combo of colors and leaf shapes. The loquat looks like it might be struggling a bit . . EEs are getting all the water, huh?

One more Caladium, if you can stand it! This one - Scarlet O'Hara - and Gingerland are the ones I ordered from Caladiums4Less this spring. Bulbs were the size of a plum. This pot has 3 bulbs in a 12in. pot. I don't think your DH will need 60 of them.

Elaine, that is the 3rd tree in that area. This is our last attempt as everything there struggles for water. I can't blame the EE's. Behind the fence is the forest. It is full of water sucking trees. I can't complain, they give us the nice shade. But our own ornamental trees suffer. Watered daily this time of year, isn't enough. Tonight I will put a drip hose at the tree base and let it drip all night. That will help, But which trees will benefit from it is the question. The one's in the forest or the new little Loquat?? It's a competition and I only get to sit, watch, and pay the water bill.

We NEED 60 blubs...Did I ever tell you DH always does things in a BIG way??

Oh, yeah, he does! I'm right with you on the water-sucking trees. Four huge oaks on all four sides of our house . . . any time I plant anything it does great at first, then starts to decline and when I roust it out, the planting hole is full of those darned tree roots.

Now I start shrubs and stuff in big pots sunken into the soil. Once a tree or shrub has established a good big root system, sometimes I'll chance it, pull up the pot then just plant the plant back in the convenient hole. Sometimes they sink, but sometimes they swim! With other ornamentals that I know just can't compete with the tree roots, like begonias and caladiums, I just keep them in the sunken pots, and prune them down to size so they can survive in the pot.

My EE's and other water lovers are all in big pots, sitting in tubs that are filled by the downspouts off the roof. So whenever it rains they get soaked, and they love having their roots in the water.

On the caladium bulbs, I meant that each plant from a primo size bulb will be at least twice, possibly 3 times the size of a plant from the little bargain bulbs from Sam's club. Plus they will all grow, again not true of bargain bulbs.

I might have to dig up the Loquat after all. After 2 hours of watering, it has not perked up. I have another that was stressed when dug up out of the forest. But it is thriving in a pot, just not as pretty and will need some severe trimming to look right. And we all know I am not good at tree timming! This little guy looks good but it not doing as well in the ground. I have the perfect pot of her. Thanks for adding to my List of Things to Do, Elaine.

My pleasure . .

Seems our posts about Caladiums have developed a life of their own. And a thread to go with it.

Just got home from shopping and Home Depot has some good looking Thai caladiums on sale. If my arms weren't already full, I'm sure one would have come home with me. Camera was out of battery too, sadly.

Trying not to look in here, I knew there'd be pics, but I slipped. Didn't read much of it, but Ooooh! Aaaah! So pretty.

And thanks, Elaine!

Got a couple more pics of my Gingerland before the skeeters chased me indoors today. It's making a lot greener leaves now, guessing it's because we've had dull, rainy weather and very little of our usual nice, clear sunshine lately. All my Caladiums seem to get a lot more green on the leaves in lower light, even the white ones. Hmmm.

Looking good Elaine.

Shady, I have to concur...Caladiums 4 Less is the best! I ordered early a few years ago and started mine in pots. We had a flower/ vegetable show in Austin that June. I only entered Miss Muffet and Gingerland.

Gingerland won First Place and a Green Thumb (means it had 90 or above points).


Miss Muffet won Queen of the Show, Best in Section, First Place, and a Green Thumb.