Caladiums

[Ann B.]

Miss Muffet...

I really like this one.

[3girls]

That Caladium is one very good advantage of living so far south. It's a beauty! Thanks for sharing, Ann.

[Ann B.]

Ah, yes! There are many plants that will thrive here, but not further north.

But there are also many that thrive a few hours north of me that do not do well here. I am delighted that my little collection of clematis are doing as well as they are, but I seem to have found the trick to getting them to survive in our heat.

Bearded Iris is also difficult to grow here. I suspect our soil is too acidic.

Tulips will bloom once, then they are GONE! Even digging them up and trying to store them until the next year is difficult to do.

The other problem is the excessive rainfall which tends to arrive all at once, especially in the tropical storm season which is now approaching.

This caladium will live in a pot until it is big enough to propagate. Most caladium do well here, but this particular one is not as inexpensive as the others.

I do like this particular one because it is unusual, but it is prettier in person. Caladiums are really pretty in a hanging pot.

It's fun to admire plants from afar, especially the ones we can't grow in our own landscapes.

[Ann B.]

This one has multiplied. Until about an hour ago, I had two hanging baskets and one pot of these. I gave the potted one to my Mom, so now I am back down to two.

Both of the hanging baskets appear to be going to produce seeds for me. I have never harvested caladium seeds, so I hope to be able to give this a try.

The leaves of this one tend to have more hot pink when they are placed in less sun.

I like it!

[Dazed_Lily]

Ann- You mentioned above that you had found the secret to clematis surviving in the heat . I'd love to know that secret as I have two very little potted Wally World rescues currently living on my north facing front doorsteps.(It's OK if you want to move my question and your answer to the Vines section if you want to keep the topics in order).
Thanks !

[Ann B.]

Actually, this topic should have already been moved to bulbs, and I will do that later and separate these posts to a new thread.

I am growing the clematis under the filtered shade of the remaining old pecan tree. They get very little direct sun (except in the morning), but lots of filtered sun. They are still in pots because most of them still have very small root systems. The pots themselves are never hit by direct sunlight.

Pecan trees are deciduous, so they lose their leaves which are late to sprout in the spring. This gives the clematis lots of sunlight during the cool of spring when they are first showing growth and starting to bloom. As the weather gets hotter, the clematis are somewhat shaded, but still get plenty of light to continue blooming and forming seeds.

Due to our heavy rainfalls at times, I am reluctant to plant them as deep as others recommend. In fact, the crowns are right at or just below the surface of the potting soil.

The only times that I have had problems with them is during a drought. The tips of the leaves turned brown when I didn't water them enough.

My biggest fear when I first started growing them was that they would not get enough 'chill hours'. Ie., they would not stay dormant as long as needed.

[vicki]

Here is a pic of caladium I received as a door prize at 2004 swap.
Could you give me some info on the care and culture. When a new leaf comes out one of the older ones dies, so there's only 3 to 4 leaves at a time. Could it be too deep? My Mom overwintered it as a houseplant for me. She did repot it. It was 5 times as big last year. Any help would be appreciated.

[vicki]

Here's another leaf off the same plant

[Ann B.]

Vicki,

Thanks so much for posting all of the pictures today. I definitely needed cheering up, and what a joy to see your pics. I may not have much time to respond to all of them. The weather is expected to get really bad very quickly, and we could lose power at any minute once it starts.

I have caladiums in the ground in full sun that come back every year. They seem to thrive in moist conditions, but do not mind drying out once in awhile.

I'm not sure why yours is losing leaves before growing another or why there is so much color differentiation.

Are you sure that it is planted with the right side up? You might gently remove some soil to see which side has roots and which side has stems or eyes. The leaves come from the eyes.

I'll see if one of my bulb books has any additional culture information. I do know that they like warmth and do not mind getting some shade.

[Ann B.]

She's showing off a different look because she is not getting as much sun right now. I do like this one...

[haweha]

The pot soil does perhaps not contain sufficient fertilizer minerals.
For example if you had previously replanted into coco fiber substrate :confused: you will have (pardon - you would have had) to begin fertilizing regularly rather soon - as particularly this kind of substrate contains few minerals (except of some ordinary NaCl which has been imported into CoCo during the manufacturing process) :eek: