An easy way to boost your home’s Southern charm? Fill a container with colorful caladiums. These tropical, heat-tolerant plants thrive in our region’s stifling summer heat. Caladiums are known for their striking foliage, which can grow quite large and are often shaped like large hearts, lances, or arrows. The hardest spot to keep flowers alive is the shady corner of a garden. The solution? Shade-loving caladiums. Plant them in garden beds, or keep them in containers on covered porches.
Add instant cottage charm to your yard with «Florida Sweetheart» caladiums. It grows best in the Tropical South and Coastal South when planted in the ground; for all other regions, plant them in containers for healthy results. It’s categorized as a strap-leaf caladium, which means it produces large bunches of showy leaves but the plant itself is more compact and closer to the ground. Buy ready to plant «Florida Sweetheart» caladiums your local garden center, or purchase them from Longfield Gardens. If growing caladiums from tubers, don’t plant outside until temperatures are regularly higher than 60 degrees at night, or else they’ll rot.
The «Florida Sweetheart» selection tolerates sun, but it performs best in filtered sunlight and part shade. It grows about a foot tall and wide. They grow best in moist, rich soil. Keep them watered regularly. Use mulch or straw to lock in moisture of beds. Feed these caladiums a water-soluble fertilizer a few times throughout the growing season. This plant shows off lance-shaped foliage with bright rosy centers with contrasting Kelly-green edges. Their wavy, wide bi-colored leaves put on a spectacular seasonal show when it seems like the heat has killed everything else in the garden. Place them around the edges of garden beds, or plant them in masses for a vibrant display.