Caladiums, I would even plant them here right now. Since the ground never freezes it's not a problem.
Now, I have thought a lot about caladiums and have come to the following conclusion: (believe it or not) They seem to know when to come up based on temperature and daylight hours. Even when we have a false spring of warmth, they still don't come up, hence my belief of the daylight hours theory. They die back when the hours of daylight get shorter (an exception would be one who hasn't learned that lesson yet)
Rascal, this comes from 10 year from living here in 8b. I moved here from Ft Lauderdale and didn't give a whole lot of thought to caladiums since everything grew in abundance down there. They would get lost in the masses.
I have planted the bulbs in the fall when they were on sale at 50% supposedly being out of season and they came up anyway, albeit small.
I believe the size of the bulb determines how many leaves will grow from it, a more mature bulb, larger, more leaves.
Also, you can't compare them to elephant ears, they are not even related. Elephant ears are hardier than caladiums and in your area can remain evergreen all year.
I also believe the better your soil, the larger the plant and leaves will be. I can buy a plant with big leaves, put it in the ground. The next year it comes back not quite as big. My soil is mostly sand I have been amending for the past 10 years.
