Hey Guys,
Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile but it's a TOUGH YEAR this past year!!

Mother Nature pretty much destroyed(Almost) the caladium crop this year!!
It started with drought. We didn't get ANY rain on the fields until about mid August. It ended with Hurricane Nicole although Hurricane Ian did wayyyy more damage!!!
Here at my warehouse which is about 6-7 miles to the West of the fields, we'd get an inch in 15 minutes sometimes!! It rained EVERY day at about 2:00 here at my office.. It's crazy!!!
It's Mother Nature, Not Father Nature and she CAN be unpredictable!!!
It's a JOKE but the day I LOSE that JOKE, I've lost it all. I don't have anything left..
Can't cry anymore so all I can do is try to laugh!!!

Someone on any thread posted a copy of a memo that was written by Dr. Bob Hartman.
Classic Caladiums which is who Bob is the President of, is owned by a big outfit out of TX
The REST of the Industry is here in Lake Placid, FL point blank, period!! and they are family farms!!
Their farm is in Hardee County and the bulbs are grown in raised plastic covered, watered, sand beds... Here in Highlands County, In Lake Placid, we have muck where the fields are.
It's without a doubt a better medium to grow caladiums in than sand!!
IN MY OPINION only!!!
All of the bulbs I offer come from a muck field!! I personally don't buy any bulbs from Classic!
They are Proud of their bulbs and rightfully so!! They should be!!
IF I could get their pricing for the so called Proven Winners from what I normally sell, I'd be a miniature Bill Gates down here. Like I said, they are Proud! The only thing that's been proven to me is that they are expensive!! But than again that's just me!!
I brought in EVERY BULB I'm getting for the year on Thursday and it's not many.
It's about 30,000 but trust me, that's a FRACTION of what I need!!
I have few left but not many!!

It's been so hard this year!! I know I for one though am a Lucky and Grateful Man!!
They say that "If you enjoy what you're doing, you'll never work a day in your life"
Well than, I haven't worked in 15 years!! I launched my 1st website in early 2008 and I haven't looked back since!!
I Re-invented the way caladium bulbs were being Sold via e-commerce if that makes any sense. Back than, my competition wanted you to buy a lot more bulbs(Minimum of 25 bulbs) and I allowed the customer to buy 10 or even 5 in some cases. I sold Mixed bulbs by the pound too, no one else did that!!
I wanted my company to be known for it's 1st Class Customer Service as I KNOW my bulbs are going to speak for themselves!!! I drive around out in those fields all summer!! Normally it's beautiful, last year, we Cried!! Hopefully though, I achieved my initial goal of offering 1st Class Customer Service

The touching part about this year is when a customer(who trust me, when I've talked to you every year for the past 10-15 years, you're not a customer but rather a FRIEND!!) wants to buy bulbs just to help me out!!
I'm going to be OK!! It's the growers who are some of MY Best Friends that I worry about!!
I just happen to LOVE selling caladiums!! I'm good at it too!!! and there aren't ANY to sell!!
If anyone wants to drop me an email which to be honest is the easiest way for me to communicate, "right now" anyway, than send it to: [email protected]


Happy Gardening!!
Bill