Last
winter in the depths of the polar vortex, I mushed the dogsled to the trading
post to get supplies. They had a garden display that caught me hook, line and
sinker. I bought fourteen caladium bulbs for $10. When I got home, I researched
caladium and learned the bulbs cannot be planted until the ground temperature
reaches 60o. I put the bulbs in a plastic bowl and settled in to
wait five months until the frozen Michigan turf warmed. During that time, my husband almost threw them
away, thinking they were spoiling food.
I
planted them a couple weeks into June and waited. At first, only one came up. I
thought it was an expensive annual. Then a few more sprouted, and a
few more. One even produced a flower. They look gorgeous among the ferns and
astilbe. Next winter, I’m going to start them inside, so I have a longer time
to enjoy them.
9 comments:
How lovely! Thank you for introducing me to a new bulb. I will be on the lookout for those the next time I take the wagon into town for supplies.
Vicky: They like shade, and are USDA zone 10-11. I'm expecting them to wither when the temps fall below 40. The deer and the rabbits have mostly left them alone. One was eaten, but perhaps it tasted bad or made the eater sick, because so far the rest are fine.
Wow, look at that flower! I've only planted these as annuals in my window boxes.
Thanks, Kristin. They're doing well in my wild backyard.
I had no idea that caladium (caldiums?? caladia??) were bulbs. Maybe I will try they--shade is the one thing we have in abundance.
Buffy, I wondered if someone would notice my inaccurate terminology. Caladium is a dicot, so probably the things I planted were not technically bulbs. They look like mini-hockey pucks, rather than garlic cloves. Aliums/alia are also dicots that grow from mini-hockey pucks. Plant catalogs call them bulbs.
The internet says they are tubers.
And I didn't mean alium, I meant anemone.
Winter is coming.
ZB
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