I've been in the North Georgia mountains for three years now discovering what makes it through the winters and what doesn't. After a dismal failure of digging and saving Caladium bulbs from last year I'm wondering if these guys will overwinter in the ground. As a reference or comparison I was quite surprised elephant ears managed to make it through the winter. In fact I thought I killed one as I rotated one garden. Low and behold it appeared the other day. The other has been going since early May. Any consensus? I'm guessing if they don't freeze or sit in water logged soil they'll be okay. I expect to throw about 3-4 inches of mulch over them this fall for extra protection.
Thanks Mid South Folks!
Caladium Bulbs Survive Through Winter in Zone 7?
I doubt caladiums will survive winter in the ground (at least mine never did). Some colocasias can survive but often are a lot smaller the next year. On the other hand alocasias usually won't survive freezing temps.
My caladiums survived beautifully this winter - I rinsed all the soil off them, put them into empty garden pots, and placed them on top of shelving in the basement. I never watered them all winter. In spring I took them down and was surprised to see everyone had sprouts 1 to 3 inches long depending on what they were.
I put them in fresh soil and a few weeks later and I ended up with this:
I also agree! I have never had any caladiums bulbs survive the winter. Last year I dug mine up and put them in a several flower pots with the intentions of keeping like ones together and tagged and putting in some peat moss. Never got around to that! I did put them in a storage room that I kept above freezing as I had other plants I was storing for the winter in there also. You have to plant caladiums bulbs late in the spring (May). The ground needs to be warm before they will come up and grow. When I got mine out they were also already sprouting. Mine are gorgeous like the ones above.
Also agree with what was said about colocasias and alocasias. I have one EE that I don't know the name of that I don't think you can kill. It was given to me by someone and they didn't know the name. It comes back every year and is so prolific I have to pull it up!!! However, most others will not survive 7b winters. I had 2 beautiful mojitas last year. I didn't want to lose it. So as an experiment I left one in the ground and dug the other one up and kept in a heated workshop over the winter. The one in the ground didn't come back. Other varieties that I left in the ground didn't come back either. I did have a pineapple princess EE come back this year but it is very tiny and I don't think it is going to get very big.
I was just given some Caladium bulbs at the VA RU...will they survive our winter here in Southern AZ?
Iwas just getting on here to find out how deep I should plant the bulbs when I saw this thread...HELP!
Jo
Here is a link that gives the hardiness zones for caladiums. According to it they are only hardy for zone 9 and above. The planting chart I would say is very accurate based on experience.
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/exotic/when-to-plant-caladium-bulbs.htm
Thanks...Jo
Oh my. I wasn't planning on pulling up 250 of them, but it will give me something to do in the late fall. Problem is I go to Florida for four months and shut the power off while I am gone. I have no basement...crawl space yes. Last year I did all the right things, or so I thought by drying the bulbs, keeping them in perforated bags (ones from daffodil packages) with peat moss. I had them inside and I'm guessing the temps didn't hit freezing as I put them under some towels hoping it would keep some of the cold out. Result? Rotted. Moisture got in there somehow..
I suppose they'll have to travel with me to Florida along with many annuals I plan to propagate by rooting.
Thanks for the experienced comments.
yes I think you got moisture in them. The towels didn't allow them to breath. I stored mine the same way as dole. Mine were just in open nursery pots but in a room that I kept above freezing all winter (around 55 to 60). They definitely like warm soil. Good luck toting them around!!
Since my granddaughter is home from the Navy for a few days, I've decided to give them to her and she can plant them in her yard in San Diego where they will be able to stay in the ground all year. Jo