I have never, ever had a bloom on a caladium before. Now all of a sudden a ton of them are blooming. Cute little blooms, and I like the caladiums with, or without, but just wondering why this year.

Interesting to me that you haven't noted them blooming in years past, seems mine nearly always bloom. Some don't produce much of a stem, keeping the blooms hidden close to the soil level, but others produce a taller stem that stands above the foliage. I just break them off when I see them, in hopes of encouraging the tubers to put the energy into foliage instead of seeds. I like to use fertilizer that is higher in nitrogen than P and K to discourage blooming and encourage foliage too, although it seems I usually see the blooms early in their development, like shortly after the first couple of leaves emerge.

Thanks Neal. I asked Bill about it also, and he said sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. I thought maybe I had stressed them, and that's why they were blooming.

I can't believe I've missed them before, as I fertilize my containers heavily, and part the leaves before I put Miracle Gro on, but anythings possible. An it could be the fertilizer.

I will pay better attention in the upcoming years, and see if I'm just missing the flowers.

I will take your advice and pinch them off, though.

While most sources recommend removing the blooms, I just happened to realize I see gorgeous commercial displays of Caladiums that I'm sure no one worries with snapping off the blooms. So I bet its not a big deal if they remain. One year I was growing a vivid hot pink Thai variety that had large white blooms that stood above the foliage. It was such a pretty contrast against the bright foliage, I left them till the blooms started to fade. Typically the blooms are mostly green and aren't showy at all.

Mine are a greenish white.

I had promised Julie in Louisiana I would send them to her after I was finished with them for the year, so I wanted to be sure they were not going to go downhill.

Usually I just toss them and buy new ones.

I used to have quite a few Caladiums, but gradually lost all of them in storing them for winter. And those that did survive a few years were never as pretty as the first year, so I can't say I blame you for starting with new ones each year. Hmmm...I wonder if some kind of bulb fertilizer would help? Seemed the tubers ended up being several small ones that didn't amount to much.

Oh, shoot, you had to say that.

The ones I got from Ednie were absolutely huge, so maybe they won't shrink too much.

Well, it was more an issue with a larger bulb breaking up into several small ones, than actually shrinking. Kinda like Tulips tend to do.

OK. I'll hae to wait and see. Julie might be getting something else for her new home.

Hey y'all. New to the group and exited to see the first newsletter!

Caladiums are barely hardy here but have been coming back for the past 3-4 years, they get bigger and more pretty every year. A (Caladium or other type) bulb must reach mature size before it can bloom. After seeing the difference in size after a few years, it's obvious most of the bulbs in bags at stores are not 'the big ones.' Some Caladium flowers smell really good, so don't forget to try sniffing them!

I am in your zone too Polly and I have only had them bloom a couple of times. I noticed they bloom when we have an extremely warm summer.

I would not have even noticed this one bloom if it was not at my front door and because it had a slight lemon fragrance.

Yes, the flowers are almost always shorter than the leaves, and probably go unnoticed most of the time. They only last for about a week.

Amazing, I never knew they bloomed.

can you help me with know what this plant might be it was a bulb my friend gave me she thought it was a elaphant ear but it appears to not be

Mine are blooming, too. We had a mild winter and HAD a spring, which is unusual, we don't always have a spring. These bulbs are first year, so I don't know what they will do in the future. They have pink leaves with green edges and the blooms are white. We also have a lot of clay in our soil. I don't know if that matters or not, but I think the more the better.


When someone wants to talk about peonies, please let me know.

Mine are blooming, too. We had a mild winter and HAD a spring, which is unusual, we don't always have a spring. These bulbs are first year, so I don't know what they will do in the future. They have pink leaves with green edges and the blooms are white. We also have a lot of clay in our soil. I don't know if that matters or not, but I think the more the better.

The plant in the picture looks like the weeds in my garden. We call it water grass.

When someone wants to talk about peonies, please let me know.

So sorry, I'm new to this & it seems like all of these websites are different

A'ndrea Jo Meharg
Norman, Ok.


Andrea Jo Meharg

Andrea! They've always bloomed when I've grown caladiums, I believe its normal but the blooms are often overlooked, hidden by the showier foliage. This thread has had no activity since 2014 and the member who started the thread is now deceased, so there may not be many replies, but I wanted to welcome you to the site.

Be sure to check out the Peony forum, lots of good peony chat threads there:
http://garden.org/forums/view/...