Almost every winter I order a bulk box of Caladium bulbs from
Caladium World.
They arrive extremely healthy, and produce beautiful plants. They are grown in Florida. They are far less expensive than buying them at garden centers. The company waits to ship them until it is warm enough to plant outside in your area. Mine typically arrive in April. You can request them earlier but exposure to low temperatures in shipping will kill them.
Contrary to what many people think, Caladiums do fine in full sun in the ground if they have enough water. In pots the soil heats up too much in full sun. I can grow them in Arizona sun. The most important factor to growing them is warm to hot temperatures, as the company makes clear on their Web site:
Quote:
We can’t say it often enough or loud enough– caladium bulbs love HOT weather. Caladium bulbs should be stored in an area that maintains temps above 65 degrees. Told ya’ that we can’t mention warm temps often enough.
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In years past this section said "above 70 degrees."
I get a Fancy Leafed Mixed - Mixed Sizes box. There are assorted sizes of tuber and assorted leaf color. This mix has more variety than the boxes with larger sized tubers because some varieties only produce small tubers.
They sell individual varieties, and boxes of tubers with all the same colored leaves. They also sell Elephant's Ears. I can't grow Elephant's Ears outside here because of spider mites, so I haven't ordered those.
I guess I've never mentioned this before here on OB. At least I can't find it with the Search.