Year of the Caladium
Bringing the Tropics to Your Garden! The stunning, colorful leaves of Caladiums make them a popular choice for gardeners. This guide will help you cultivate and enjoy these beautiful plants.
Overview and History
Caladiums are native to the tropical forests of South and Central America where they thrive in high heat and humidity. European horticulturists have been cultivating them from tubers for their striking foliage since the 1700s, but they did not become popular in the US until much later.
In 1893, caladiums made an appearance at Chicago’s World Fair thanks to the efforts of Adolph Leitze, a German plant breeder living in the Amazon.
After World War II, breeders began growing caladiums in Florida, where the vast majority of caladiums are still grown today. Lake Placid, Florida, is now known as the Caladium Capital of the World, producing more than 90% of the world’s caladiums.
Basic Types of Caladiums
Caladiums can broadly be grouped into two categories – Strap and Fancy
- Strap or Lance-Leaf Caladiums
Physically, strap caladiums tend to be narrower, lance-leaf caladiums. They’re usually short in height and may have better sun tolerances than fancy varieties. The petiole meets the underside of the leaf at the apex in strap leaf caladiums. - Fancy Caladiums
Generally, fancy leaf caladiums have larger, heart-shaped leaves and taller growth heights. The petiole is centered on the underside of a fancy-leafed caladium.
Caladium Varieties of Note
Blushing Bride
Rain or Shine
Mesmerized
Va-Va Violet
- Aaron Caladium has creamy white heart-shaped leaves with a green border and veins. Spectacular color all through the summer in any shady spot in your garden.
- Ballet Slippers provides lots of bright pink, red, and green leaves to decorate the shade garden. Grows a compact 8-16” tall.
- Celebration is a spectacular, colorful South American native, suitable for full shade but can also be grown in full sun with a bit of drip irrigation. White and green leaves lined with bright red veins.
- Cherry Tart™ is grown for its dramatic, long-lasting foliage that adds color and texture to the garden, summer into fall. A lance-leaved variety, commonly called angel wings, Cherry Tart is dense with broadly cordate leaves on slender, upright stalks. The dazzling bright red leaves have an undulating, broad green margin.
- Carolyn Whorton is a fancy-leaved variety with large, heart-shaped pink leaves with dark green margins and red veining.
- Fiesta has a dwarf habit (12” tall) of big colorful foliage. Each white leaf has green veins with an exploding hot pink star on every leaf.
- Flamingo Caladium can take the summer sun better than most, growing with vigor to an unbelievably lush colorful plant. It is a practically perfect plant rounded and symmetrical, with cascading layers of richly colored hot pink and emerald green leaves.
- Florida Moonlight’s luminous heart-shaped leaves are a bright white with clearly defined green veining. Grow 18-24” tall making a great statement in the shade garden.
- Freckles had dark green, heart-shaped leaves with raspberry red splotches, grows 12-18” tall.
- Gingerland caladium has a delicate pattern of green, white, and deep red creating a unique festive look. Grows 12-18” tall.
- Heart to Heart® Caladiums feature unique genetics that come in colorful varieties ranging from subtle to sensational. Their constant color and variegated foliage are perfect for containers and low-maintenance sun or shade gardens.
- Heart to Heart® ‘Rain or Shine’ is a unique new caladium with incredible vigor. Large, bronze pink-red leaves with soft pink speckles and black veining stand out in the garden. It’s also adaptable as a houseplant!
- Heart to Heart® ‘Blushing Bride’ is a strap leaf caladium that features bright deep pink leaf areas with a green border. The main veins may turn whiter depending on growing conditions. Individual leaves are moderately frilly and may average about 7 inches long. It will tolerate both sun and shade conditions.
Flatter Me
Clowning Around
Burning Heart
Bold N Beautiful
Select Additional Varieties
- June Bride: As summer’s heat grows, the delicate leaves of June Bride infuse shady spaces with light, energizing containers and add striking contrast to surrounding foliage and flowers. The large white heart-shaped leaves are edged with deep green and occasionally blushed with rosy pink, emphasizing the romantic nature of this gorgeous foliage plant.
- Postman Joyner is a textured leaf variety with reddish-pink leaves and darker veins surrounded by dark green edges. Grows 14-16” tall.
- Red Flash (a fancy type) caladium has heart-shaped leaves of bright red with pink spots and a green border.
- Rosy Leaf Caladium features heart-shaped, rosy-pink leaves with deep rose veins and contrasting green edging. It grows 18-24” tall.
- Spring Fling is a fancy leaved caladium with soft pink leaves with dark green veining. Grows to 18” tall.
- Strawberry Star has a fancy leaved caladium that thrives in full sun, particularly in the North. Bright white leaves with green veining and mottle strawberry-red spots.
- Summer Pink is a stunner for any shade garden, it has bright heart-shaped green and white leaves with pink veins.
- Sweetheart is considered by many gardeners to be the finest caladium of them all, this caladium dazzles with lush bright colors. Its foliage is naturally full and thick, and the shape is beautifully rounded.
- Tapestry is a fairly recent introduction, showing how far the breeding of this beautiful foliage plant can go. Individual leaves often reach a foot long and 7” wide. The heart-shaped foliage offers a frosty, almost bluish-white base, overlaid with a thick moss-green edge that fades out into freckles and spots as it goes inward onto the leaf, plus bright, distinctive pinkish-red veins.
- White Christmas sports pure white leaves with green veins. You’ll enjoy these showy foliage plants with their peltate heart-shaped variegated leaves of white with green veins that grow to 12-18” tall.
- White Queen Caladium’s bold foliage will light up the shade with its huge bright white leaves with bright pink and green veining.
Xplosion Caladium
Raspberry Moon Caladium
Clowning Around Caladium
White Wonder Caladium
Special Offers
Flower Support Rings
Keep heavy blooms upright with these generous supports. Ideal for any bushy plant, each 18″ diameter hoop is anchored by three 30″ tall stakes.
Mixed Caladiums
This colorful mix of three plants is sure to add color and texture to shaded areas. Grown primarily for their foliage, caladiums are some of the most colorful foliage plants for shade gardens.
The Caladium Success Manual
Transform your garden with the spectacular patterns and bold hues of Caladium.
How to Grow Caladium in Your Garden
Though largely low maintenance when their preferences are met, there are a few key things it helps to know before beginning to grow caladiums to have the greatest success and enjoyment.
- Caladiums need warm soil to break their dormancy and start growing. Bulbs planted too early in still-cool soil may rot before sprouting. As a general rule of thumb, plant caladium tubers outdoors, after all the danger of frost, and when the soil temperature reaches about 70°F. In cooler climates, you’ll get a head start by planting in containers inside until they sprout and waiting until late spring to transplant into the garden after any remnants of winter have passed.
- Space bulbs about 8 to 12 inches apart. Well-drained, organically enriched soil amended with compost or peat moss provides an ideal growing medium.
- Caladiums like consistent moisture in well-drained soil. If an area puddles after a good rain, you might want to look elsewhere to plant your bulbs. Mound up soil in an area for better drainage. Keep the newly planted bulbs moist but not soggy.
- Site selection is key to growing vibrant caladiums. Choose a spot that receives filtered sunlight or light afternoon shade. While they love the shade, some tolerate full sun. Their most dramatic colors emerge with about four hours of dappled sun per day. When possible, shelter shade varieties from hot midday sun exposure which can cause fading or sun scorch damage.
- During active growth in summer, caladiums benefit from regular fertilizer to look their best. Apply a diluted, balanced, liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks while plants are rapidly growing and producing new leaves. Alternatively, a controlled-release fertilizer applied at planting can save you time.
- Group plants together to boost humidity. Since caladiums are native to tropical forests, they appreciate humidity levels of 50% and above. In the landscape, mulch can help preserve moisture and increase humidity. Increase moisture around plants by grouping pots together and placing them on pebble trays filled with water. Their large leaves also release moisture through transpiration.
- Shelter caladiums from wind that exposes caladium foliage to desiccating air movement, which can quickly lead to leaf damage. Locate containers and planting beds in protected microclimates out of breezy spots. Use windbreaks to shield plants when needed.
- As lower caladium leaves age and fade during summer, they can be removed by pinching at the base. This neatens their appearance and encourages new leaf production, so plants stay lush all season.
- Caladiums can be treated as annuals in most of the US and just plant fresh bulbs each spring. At the end of the season, you can simply leave them in the ground and let them decompose.
10 Extra Tips on Caladium
- Caladium bulbs come in different sizes to suit various growing seasons and desired plant size.
- Jumbo-size bulbs (2.5-3.5 inches) are ideal for rapid growth and fuller plants, especially in shorter growing seasons.
- #1 size bulbs (1.5-2.5 inches) are suitable for longer growing seasons, allowing the plants ample time to mature.Note that bulb sizes can vary between varieties, so not all bulbs of the same size will look identical.
- Caladiums planted in full sun generally require more water than those planted in shade. The length of exposure to sunlight is the determining factor so be sure to note how much sun your caladiums receive. Overexposure can result in holes with brown edges in leaves between the main veins. Optimal color development occurs with around four hours of daily dappled sun exposure. Watering caladiums in the morning or late afternoon helps eliminate sunburn.
- Caladiums should be treated as annual plants. We don’t recommend storing bulbs for planting the next season since they don’t perform as well as fresh bulbs. This is because caladiums planted anywhere north of southern Florida cannot build up the carbohydrates necessary for storage and spring sprouting.
- To overwinter Caladiums indoors as a houseplant, move outdoor pots indoors in early fall. Provide bright light and humidity to continue growth. Once leaves begin to shrivel and fall over, reduce watering, allowing the plant to dry out. Remove dead leaves and store the bulbs in dry soil or a cool, ventilated area. Replant outdoors when nighttime temperatures consistently reach 60°F.
- Caladiums are relatively low-maintenance plants. Problems often stem from overwatering, which can cause bulb rot, or from too much sun or fertilizer. Look for common pests like aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, and thrips, which can congregate on the undersides of leaves. Treat infestations early before they damage plants to save yourself from far more work later.
- Caladiums offer moderate resistance to deer and rabbit damage, but they may be susceptible to browsing if other food sources are scarce.
- All Caladiums make excellent container plants by themselves or in combinations with annuals, perennials, or other bulbs.
- Sizes of leaves vary depending on the cultivar; the color tone of leaves will change as they mature.
- Caladium’s colorful leaves are long-lasting and make quite an impact in flower arrangements.
- Caladiums may produce a single, (occasionally two or three), arum-type flower with a green or pinkish spathe and a short white spadix. While the plant may produce white berries containing seeds, most gardeners remove the inflorescence to direct energy towards leaf and tuber growth.
Splash of Wine Caladium Hanging Basket
Blushing Bride Caladium Window Box
Blushing Bride Caladium Walkway
Mixed Cut Caladium Leaves in Vase
Learn More About Caladium
- Lovely Leaves: Using Fabulous Foliage Plants to Design Gorgeous Gardens by National Garden Bureau
- Caladiums – The Ultimate Growing Guide from Proven Winners
- How to Grow and Care for Caladiums by Southern Living Plants
- Caladium Planting Guide by American Meadows
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