You may have heard the old saying, “This plant is so easy to grow, you just have to plant the green side up.” I’m here to tell you, when it comes to Heart to Heart Caladium tubers, you have to plant only the white side up.
Son James and I took possession of several boxes of Heart to Heart caladium bulbs in early spring. To be honest, it looked like a lot of work. Neither of us had much experience planting caladium tubers due to using container grown caladiums, and I try to avoid anything that is hard work. (Just kidding, but you know what I mean.)
We looked at the tubers in alarm, but as you will see, we were oh so wrong. At least we knew how to plant the white side up.
See, Heart to Heart took the guesswork out of deciding which side with the white marker goes up. As you can imagine, studying each tuber to determine the top would take days for the inexperienced gardener – and the professionals too. Each tuber has also been defected, which means you are getting the maximum sized foliage.
We have selected our tubers for the various projects and combinations. Even in late spring, cold fronts came again and again with temperatures in the 40s, which caused us to postpone planting. When you plant tubers in the ground, you want the soil to be 65 degrees.
While we’d both been thinking about the tedious work with a shovel or hand trowel, we decided on Twist ‘n Plant garden snails, which are attached to drills. This will change everything you do in the garden.
The Twist ‘n Plant auger on my cheap cordless drill worked like a charm. I planted 100 caladium bulbs in a few minutes. It was so easy that I used it to plant 4 inch bedding plants the next day as well. When the planting was over, James and I laughed at how we had worried so unnecessarily.
You may be wondering what to do with Caladium. The answer is anything you want. In an office complex, James created a look that resembles a celebration of happiness and color. He went for Heart to Heart Bottle Rocket and Heart to Heart Snowdrift, which mix with Surefire Begonias, Unplugged So Blue Sages, and Diamond Snow Euphorbia with a dash of Coleus lime. He used heart-to-heart caladium in containers in front of the porch in homes in Old Town North Columbus mixed with petunias, calibrachoas, begonias, and sage to create textural feast for the eyes.
At home I was a little more old-fashioned and planted Heart to Heart Fast Flash and Heart to Heart mesmerized with Royal Hawaiian Maui Gold elephant ears around a windmill palm. The look is lush, exotic and tropical. I strategically placed the Heart to Heart Mesmerized so that it is visually close to a dozen orange and red soprano impatiens that will also debut in 2022. Impatiens and Caladiums have something wonderful about them.
There are a few dozen Heart-to-Heart Caladiums to choose from, with more additions in 2022. Search Heart-to-Heart Caladiums online for detailed instructions on growing, storing for the winter, and choosing which ones to choose best for your amount of sunshine or shade. You know, if you have fertile, well-drained soil, you’re in business.
Even if it’s June you can still get months of great color. When buying tubers, choose the ones that are plump and firm. Plant them about 2 inches deep with the white side up. If you’re planting gallon or 15-inch container plants, set them in the ground with the top of the root ball even with the soil surface level.
What can you do with heart-to-heart caladia? Everything you want. You are the art director. Caladiums with hostas – yes. Caladiums and hydrangeas – perfect. White caladiums to line a shady path – that too is unbeatable.
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