For those of you who are as addicted to caladiums as I am, Bill is once again offering a DG discount but this time it's 15% so take a look:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1289645/
I've always loved Miss Muffet and will try it in 2013 with some clematises.
Hi pirl,is the Miss Muffett the small leaved one??or is it Gingerland??
Hi! Miss Muffet is one of the small leaved caladiums. They call that type "strap". Gingerland is another strap. I think Red Ruffles and Florida Sweetheart are two more of them.
The taller ones are called "fancy leaved".
1. Gingerland
2. Florida Sweetheart in a hanging basket
3. Just to show the huge volume of leaves on Florida Sweetheart
All caladiums perform very well in shade. Some do fine in full sun and up here, on Long Island, most do fine in full sun but I'd be more careful if I lived in a warmer zone.
That is Miss Muffett. Gingerland is equally pretty, and they are easy enough to tell apart.
Arlene, so glad you posted this great reminder. I always start mine indoors early.
It's fun to plan ahead and see what areas I'll brighten up with Bill's caladiums next year, especially on a dismal day like today.
Thanks,I always get the two mixed up..
I love both types but for any hanging basket the strap leaves give such a great show. You can put other plants in the basket, like trailing plants, or even a few begonias.
Maybe Red Ruffles is the other one that's a strap but I'm sure there are several I haven't yet tried. I'll have to correct that situation!
Here's one that I absolutely loved from last year (not available this year) - Lipstick. Many others would give the same effect, like Carolyn Whorton, another favorite.
Bill has, without a doubt, the best caladium bulbs anywhere on the market! They are plump, healthy bulbs. My yard is filled with them! Of course, I'll order more!
~MerryMary
They are the best, which is why I never hesitate to rave about them. Even the deer prefer them over any others!
Well I just missed the sale by 7 1/2 hours. I emailed them to see if they can honor it, I totally forgot till this morning when I realized it is now Feb.
Sometimes he does extend the ads. If he does make sure you have your order ready and haven't missed filling a spot with beauty.
This is just three caladium hiding the legs of two clematises.
He emailed me and said he could not extend the discount, but he could add a few bulbs to my bag to make up for it. He is a great, and he responded right away.
He also sells bulbs on ebay, if you need more.
He is a very nice guy. I'm glad he will give you more caladiums. Somehow I don't think Home Depot would consider it!
According to Bill's email, mine have been shipped, so I expect them soon.
Hooray for warmer nights!
This message was edited Apr 29, 2013 11:08 PM
When is a good time to plant? Can I do it now in my pots? He said to wait till the nights are in the 60's.Well Hech, that wont be until June...lol
Marcia - that's such good news! I know you've said you start them indoors so you'll do well.
Marie - they want the same planting time and temperatures as tomatoes so that's 55 degrees or more and no cold nights. You can do as Marcia does and pot them up indoors, then put them out when your weather warms up enough. Remember to harden them off first!
Here, mine are already up and running...I know we have warmer weather here, but we've also experienced the weird weather temp changes the rest of the nation has had this year. All it took was one slight rain, and up they came!
http://www.classiccaladiumsllc.com/varieties/varieties.htm
Here's a GREAT link to the different varieties!
I had to get mine in the pots, they were sprouting in the bag.
Mine were, too!
They ought to be doing quite well by now. It seemed to take forever to get them all planted, but even the slowest ones are all sprouting and producing foliage. Many have started with spikes (now clipped off) due to the wet weather.
Many of mine haven't sprouted yet. Others are full sized while some haven't made it close to full size. I'm positive it was the weather but I do miss my big caladium show!
Even down here where it's been very warm for months...I have some that are just now coming up. Go figure? Maybe it was our weird winter?
I went away for a week, just got back, and was happy to see a lot of mine are up and looking good. It took forever this year. Some are still just popping their heads out and making foliage. It has been way too cool for them.
My thought is that it was the strange spring with warm and cool days (for those of us in the Northeast) and then we had the night of May 12th when it hit 33 degrees. The weather was so unstable and not conducive to getting the caladiums growing. I still have three pots where just one leaf appears in one of the pots.
Maybe a caladium lover can tell me the name of this one that is doing very well in a large pot with Hotline lilies.
This morning the forecaster said that today will be the start of the third heatwave of the year so the caladiums should love it.
I couldn't help but post the swallowtail butterfly on the echinacea. This gentle creature allowed lots of photography.
The second and fourth photos are the same container of White Queen. Originally I thought the sun brought the red/pink color, but that is not the case. Many of them open deep pink. The curled foliage is dark before it opens. The veination seems similar to yours.
For a change, I ordered Marie Moir caladiums from Bill. The must have been on the edge of this tall pink leaf in the third photo. Reminds me of Carolyn Wharton, but it seems too dark. The two leaves are huge and grew long before Marie Moir sprouted.
I am guessing that some bulbs are more mature than others. Some that were planted two months ago are really slow growing. Others planted much more recently have sprouted quickly. They were planted much more recently because I did not realize I still had bulbs that needed to be planted until I started to clean up. Really losing it....
Your White Queens have so much pink in them that I'm wondering if they aren't Fantasy instead?
Marie - love the butterfly. They often remain still so we can enjoy them and photograph them. This won't be the week (in the northeast) to go running after them!
They do confuse me with the coloring so I've learned, finally, to just enjoy them as they unfurl and then sometimes change colors. Gingerland doesn't change, neither do any of the green/white combinations, but many do.
The third photo does appear to have Carolyn Whorton. I have loved Marie Mohr forever and have it growing but need to get some photos of it.
I'll write to Bill and ask about bulb maturity or maybe it's that some are more sensitive to the weather than others. In any event, I planted identical window boxes of two cultivars. One window box is thriving while the other has one lonely leaf.
"Losing it" sounds so familiar!
Merry Mary - they do remind me of Florida Fantasy!
I know some of my smaller varieties have only recently begun to emerge, while some of my others have been up for months. Maybe it was the odd winter we had? Red Flash was first, and grew to 2 feet tall.
Red Flash is always a winner. I love that one!
Rasberry Moon, another one with intense colors.
LOVE it.
I hope he has Lipstick next year. It's so pretty. So many of them remind me of stained glass.
Lipstick is my favorite! I had one bulb, from yeeeeeeears ago, that came by mistake in a pot of other caladiums. I searched high and low for a name, but most people had never even seen one like it. Finally Bill identified it for me, and then carried them. I ordered a whole bag! They're just so beautiful!
I can only hope he can carry them in 2014. He'll have you and I ordering them for sure.
Me, too.
Hey Girls,
Arlene- I really think yours is White Queen that is pinking A LOT more than usual. I have some I'm currently growing for the caladium festival in two weeks and they're looking exactly like yours. FL Fantasy comes up white and stays white. The red doesn't bleed out of the veins like the White Queen does. They don't get as big as White Queen though. There's a variety in the pipeline that is probably a couple of years from being released, it looks just like FL Fantasy but the leaves are A LOT bigger,
Mary- That's strange because Red Flash is generally one of the slowest caladiums to come up out in the fields. I have about 500 of them planted in front of my old store and they took there sweet time coming up this year.
As far as Pink Lipstick goes all I can say is I'm going to do my best to get some next year....
Bill
Thanks for your help, Bill. We all really appreciate it.
Thanks Bill! I've had some red flash leaves that have been more than a foot across! Love their color, they make a great show, even from a distance!
Look at the size of these~
