Caladium Bulb Buy

We're going to do a group bulb buy for caladiums--a smallish one, not as daunting as the massive and massively fantastic spring bulb buy that Critter hosted over the summer. ;-) Here are the logistics:

* Bulbs will be ordered from Bill in time for them to be delivered the week of Feb. 10. We'll be asking for a few volunteers to come to the swap early in order to sort them out.

* You must be able to pick up your bulbs at the Feb. 15 seed swap in Frederick OR arrange to have somebody pick them up for you OR be able to pick them up from Critter the following week.

* Critter will be placing the final order with Bill. Pay her at the swap, cash or check (in a clearly marked envelope, e.g, "this is from Peggy Sue for caladiums"). If you have a large order, you may be asked to pay in advance.

*We intend to finalize our order soon after the MLK long weekend, so please plan to have your final orders in by Monday, Jan 20.

Please go to http://www.CaladiumBulbs4Less.com and browse around. Here is our order so far:

Gingerland, Sun Tolerant
--10 Speedie
--15 SSG
--20 Critter
--35 Happy
--5 Donner
--10 Terp
--5 Sally

Florida Elise
--100 Yehudith

Florida Red Ruffle, Sun Tolerant
--10 SSG
--5 Donner
--5 Catmint
--5 Critter

Florida Sweetheart, Sun Tolerant
--5 Critter
--5 Terp

FM Joyner
--5 Catmint
--5 Critter? (if needed to make a full bag)

Lance Whorton, Sun Tolerant
--5 SSG
--10 Critter
--5 Sally
--5 Terp

Mixed Fancy Leaf (I like the idea of variety)
--5 Catmint
--5 Terp

White Christmas
--5 Donner
--5 Catmint

White Queen
--5 Terp
--5 Critter

Mixed Bag
--3# Bag Terp

bag of 25 tuberose
--20 Yehudith
--5 Catmint (3 for Coleup)

The general promo Bill is offering for DG is 10% discount if order is placed by Jan 31. Please have your orders to me by Sunday, January 26.

By the way, be sure to look at the 'lot of 25', 'lot of 50' and 'lot of 100' links. The bulbs are cheaper if we buy them in larger quantities. E.g., several people could split a lot of 25 and save money.

thanks and looking forward to a great 'smallish' buy! :-)

Catmint


This message was edited Jan 17, 2014 9:17 AM

Catmint, thank you for organizing it!

I'm also interested in Gingerland, so Speedie and I can split the 25 bag.

Also 10 Lace Whorton and 10 Florida Red Ruffle.

I will gladly split a bag of the Gingerland with you Ss, count me in! =)

okey-doke. 12.5 bulbs each? ;-) Okay, just joking! :-D how do you want the bag split?
25 Grade #1 Gingerland, Sun Tolerant, $29.95

I think Ss is ok with this... I'd like 10 of them please, and I'd like to let her have the rest... HOWEVER, I absolutely MUST MUST MUST pay my full half of the cost.
(sorry, I hope this doesn't make things too difficult, but I simply do NOT have room for more than 10 of them, and it's not fair for her to have to pay for my lack of space).

Thank you a trillion tons! =)

Catmint, speedie just dmailed me and said she wants just 10, so I'll take 15. I'm pretty flexible with the number of bulbs.

Speedie, we'll work it out so it's fair! No need to pay more than your exact share, since I'm totally fine with either 10 or 15.

I thought maybe we should do the calculations at the very end, just in case someone else is interested in Gingerland and wants to get 5 from this 25 lot, or order the 50 lot.

Btw, I'm flexible with my order, so I'll take 10 or 15 of each.

Agree, we'll work out the details later. (aka: I'll sneak money into your pocket when you're not looking). < =D

25 Grade #1 Gingerland, Sun Tolerant, $29.95
--10 Speedie
--15 SSG

10 Grade #1 Lance Whorton, Sun Tolerant, $14.95
--10 SSG

10 Grade #1 Florida Red Ruffle, Sun Tolerant, $14.95
--10 SSG

I personally am interested in:

Grade #1 Florida Cardinal, Sun Tolerant, $11.95
Grade #1 White Christmas, Shade - Semi-Shade, $11.95
Grade #1 Florida Sweetheart, Sun Tolerant, $14.95
Possibly: 10 Grade #1 Mixed Fancy Leaf, $10.95 (I like the idea of variety)

Anyone else interested in these? I know they're common ones so many others may have them already but I'm just building my collection. ;-)


This message was edited Jan 10, 2014 10:54 AM

Gingerland is one of my very favorites. The pattern is almost lacy, dappled with pink shades but more subtle than most pink/red ones. It's wonderful together with a stronger colored one such as Lance Whorton (another sun tolerant strap leaf variety), but I think it would mix well with anything.

Thanks for doing this, Catmint! We're already off to a great start! Might not be bad to keep it simple by continuing to order in multiples of 5... that kind of thing helps when splitting up. I like the way you're keeping track in the top post, makes it easy to see where we're at as a group, what's available etc.

I can take a few of about anything or more of my chosen varieties, but to start I would like

5 Gingerland
5 Florida Sweetheart
5 Lance Whorton (If there's interest in this one)

Grade #1 Gingerland, Sun Tolerant
--10 Speedie
--15 SSG
--5 Critter
--20 Happy
--5 Donner

Grade #1 Lance Whorton, Sun Tolerant
--10 SSG
--5 Critter

Grade #1 Florida Red Ruffle, Sun Tolerant
--10 SSG
--5 Donner

Grade #1 Florida Sweetheart, Sun Tolerant
--5 Critter

Grade #1 Mixed Fancy Leaf (I like the idea of variety)
--10 Catmint

Grade #1 White Christmas
--5 Donner



This message was edited Jan 11, 2014 9:59 AM

:-)

This message was edited Jan 10, 2014 4:58 PM

Do you mean you want to have a post appear at the top of this thread? Just edit your initial post. Do you mean you want to make this thread be a "sticky" one that appears at the top of the MAG forum? To do that, you need to ask an administrator.

Catmint: Are you thinking of distributing the bulbs at the February 15 seed swap? Or at Aspenhill's swap? If the former, I can probably pick the bulbs up in person February 10 or thereabouts, and deliver them to the seed swap. Depending on how bulky they are -- I can't really visualize it. And assuming it is ok to send them as baggage on Southwest airlines (would they get too cold?). I could take a lot as carry-ons. Shipping is about 10% of the cost, so that could be a significant savings.

I'd be interested in maybe 10 - 25 Gingerland. If we can get to a box of 100, the price comes way down.

Happy: if the bulbs have arrived before Feb 15, then I will plan to bring them to the seed swap. if after Feb 15, then I will plan to bring them to the spring swap.

For the Gingerland, right now we are at 30 bulbs. 20 more would make a flat of 50. Happy, can you give me a specific number of bulbs you would like me to put you down for?

25 Gingerland=29.95, or $1.20 each
50 Gingerland=49.95, or 99 cents each
100 Gingerland=87.95 or 88 cents each

I'm hoping we can get to 100 Gingerland! Really, anywhere between 10 and 25. I'll take 25 if needed to get to 100; I'm happy with only 10. We need to exactly hit a multiple of 100, so you'll need us to be flexible with our numbers. Put me down for 25 if that helps, with an asterisk that I'm ok with less.

But if they are ready for pickup in Florida on the 10th, I can probably do that in person.

This message was edited Jan 10, 2014 7:41 PM

Happy, I'll put you down for 20 so we have a box of 50 now for Gingerland. If there's enough interest for another 50 then I'll put you down for more.

Last year I told myself I wasn't going to buy anymore caladiums.

They have a short season when compared to other tropicals like begonias, and I don't like having to start them indoors. Last year I was so late in getting everything planted out that I just ended up throwing them in random containers.

This year I want to try planting them in the ground in large drifts.

Happy, will you be close enough to Lake Placid?

hi, SSG. I had one caladium last year. Here's a photo of it. It was beautiful all season, right up until the first frost got it--I really enjoyed it. Of course, I had gotten it as a small plant from a nursery and did not start it from a bulb, so that made a difference. Are they slow growing if started in the garden or indoors as bulbs?

Cat, would you please add the following for me?

Gingerland 5
White Christmas 5
Florida Red Ruffle 5

Thank you for doing the work for all of us.

Catmint, they really don't like cold soil and can rot if you plant them out too early. I feel like they were especially late in getting started last year.

I really like how they look planted in the ground!

Happy, it is very kind and generous of you to offer to pick up the bulbs in person on your trip to Florida, but I think SSG raises a good point about Lake Placid, a tiny town in central Florida. It seems to be rather remote--the nearest airport is a very small commuter airport 62 miles away that is served by two flights arriving/departing a day. No major cities within 60 miles. I would be very concerned about the burden on you. Anyway, it is sooooo kind and generous of you to offer, but I'm thinking it would place a huge burden on you. E.g., what if something went wrong during transit? I think I would feel more secure with professionally packed bulbs shipped directly to someone's house, than with trusting the vagaries of the airport luggage system.

I think you can start them in pretty small pots (or clumps of bulbs in a trade gallon pot, maybe as many as 5) and get them going inside, then put them out when they've started sprouting and the soil outside is warmer. I'm thinking maybe pot up in early to mid March and plant out in mid April, but we can ask Bill for advice... for those wanting them in the ground, we really only want to kick-start the bulbs and get them out of dormancy... maybe just cramming them together in a shallow flat of potting mix and putting them under lights and on a heat mat would be the way to go (or give them a warm spot upstairs by a window).

Happy, I agree -- let's let Bill ship them. He seemed quite confident that he could pack them with enough insulation to get them here safely (double boxed with rice hulls, I think is what he said). When we start talking 100+ bulbs, that's some weight, and they may not enjoy cargo conditions. If you're participating in the group buy and helping to get the numbers up -- that's a good contribution to saving us all $$!

BUT if you're in that area -- do stop by to see Bill! He'd be thrilled. He gave me heck when he found out I'd been on Sanibel and hadn't come by.. I think it's still a couple of hours between Sanibel & Lake Placid, though, and it would have been hard to drag me off the beach in any case.)

Donner--got you down!

Critter, do you know who did the last caladium buy? Just wanted to get some BTDT logistical advice. ;-)

I've split up relatively small orders a few times. :-)

Critter, does that mean you're the one who did the last caladium buy??

ssg, catmint and critterologist: I google-mapped it before offering -- I'll be staying 71.4 miles away, door to door -- (a 1 hour 26 minute drive). That would be a fun outing! I'll never forget a trip to a daylily grower we made on another Florida trip! And we're flying Southwest -- three of us -- so we can take tubers as carry-ons on our trip back to DC. We should be able to take a lot if we fill up 3 backpacks!

OK here is what I can handle/nominate


5 Florida sweetheart
5 mixed fancy
5 white queen
5 gingerland

Yes, I'm the one who orchestrated a couple of past group buys from Bill... probably smaller totals than what we've got going here, mostly splitting up some bags of 10 between several people. I'm happy to help if I can -- just glad to have you taking the lead!

got it, Terp--thanks!

I'm keeping a running tally of people's orders in the first post in this thread. So far, we have a great selection of bulbs.

I've just added FM Joyner to the list of selections, since I want 5 of them! ;-) Take a look:

Please add for me:
10 Gingerland (increase from 5 to 15)
5 White Queen

not sure about FM joyner for me... it's on the sun tolerant list but description says semi-shade to shade. I'd try 5 though if needed to reach next price break.

Got it, Critter! The White Queen is very pretty, too.

Florida Elise - sun tolerant

--100 Yehudith

Think I messed up. I added to the list.

Yehudith lot of 100 of Florida Elise.

Thanks so much for hosting.

Yehudith

Last year I told myself no more caladiums and no more annuals in the ground. Now I'm doing both! I shouldn't even bother making gardening resolutions.

I've had both sun and shade tolerant types in both deep shade and blazing sun, and they all did okay. I wonder if the sun tolerant label is specifically for the intense Florida sun.

thanks, Yehudith--got you down!

SSG, I *totally* identify! :-)

Thank you.

I can do an extra 5 gingerland and mixed fancy leaf to make things workout evenly.

Terp, thanks so much for your offer, but right now we are at 75 Gingerland and 10 mixed fancy leaf (I subtracted 5 for myself), so we are okay for both of those! For Gingerland, we could do one bag of 50 + one of 25, and that would be less expensive than one bag of 50 + 3 bags of 10.

The bulb that's off in quantities right now is Lance Whorton, as currently our count is 15. We need someone to either add 5 or subtract 5 to make either 1 or 2 bags of 10.

Also, Critter had offered to get 5 of the FM Joyner to bring our bag to 10, but if someone else is interested in the FM Joyner, please let us know, and we'll move those 5 from Critter to whoever is interested.

Thanks so much! Maybe we can get our order in early??

Ow! My arm! You've twisted it!
I will take 5 Lance Whorton- it is the one I thought most interesting in the initial list.
Heaven help me. But visions of monster bulb someone gifted me with last year ...