Caladium of 2024 is another Heart to Heart, ‘Lemon Blush’
In 2023, Proven Winners’ Caladium of the Year was Heart to Heart ‘Scarlet Flame.’ This was an eye-opener for a lot of gardeners.
We think of caladiums in two basic types or forms: fancy and strap leaves. Fancy leaves are large, heart or semi-heart shaped. Strap or lance-leaves are narrow, some ruffled, and generally shorter. This has led many gardeners to choose sides, as in bigger is better.
‘Scarlet Flame’ is a strap-leaved selection and won our hearts with the number of leaves produced, vibrancy of color and the ability to work in mixes or partnerships that most of us have never dreamed about.
I’ll never forget the combination with ‘Blue Mohawk’ rush and ‘Sweet Caroline Medusa Green’ ornamental sweet potato. It is also a caladium for sun or shade. Those of us who paid attention will never roll our eyes at the suggestion of a strap-leaved variety again.
Heart to Heart ‘Lemon Blush’ has been chosen as the 2024 Caladium of the Year. ‘Lemon Blush’ is an award-winning, fancy-leaved selection that is recommended for shade to part shade. It offers a new look in the world of caladiums with rose red centers and veins along with wide chartreuse margins. This means it will indeed be seen or noticed in those shadier areas of the landscape.
It will open doors to combining with hydrangeas, reblooming azaleas, impatiens and hostas. ‘Lemon Blush’ will also look really dazzling in a tropical setting with bananas, elephant ears and papyrus grasses.
You will find several recipes using ‘Lemon Blush’ on the Proven Winners caladium page.
University trials on caladiums are still relatively new but already Heart to Heart ‘Lemon Blush’ has won Top Performer Awards at University of Georgia and North Carolina State JC Raulston Arboretum. It also won Director’s Select Awards at Penn State in two different years.
The last few years I have been growing my caladiums by planting jumbo bulbs. Heart to Heart has taken the guesswork out of deciding which side goes up with white marking. Another tip is to plant the pointed side upward. You can imagine that studying each tuber to determine the top side would take days to plant for the novice
gardener, and for the pros, too. Each tuber has also been de-eyed, meaning you are going to get the maximum sized foliage.
When planting tubers in the ground, you want the soil to be a warm 65 degrees. So most of the country has plenty of time to do their caladium bulb acquisition for late spring planting. The thought of planting 100 tubers can seem daunting. You’ll find yourself thinking, “Maybe I’ll just plant 20.”
That was The Old Garden Guy. I have since learned the value and ease of planting tubers with twist and plant augers attached to drills. This will change everything you do in the garden. The tubers are planted so that the top is at least 2 inches below the soil surface.
A lot of gardeners choose to buy caladiums already growing in containers. This is certainly a great method, especially since you will see the actual color you are buying. These caladiums are recommended to be planted with the top of the rootball about a half inch below the soil surface whether you are growing in beds or a container.
Caladium maintenance is easy and mainly centered around making sure you have adequate moisture. You keep the moisture going and the leaves will last longer than you ever dreamed. Letting them dry to a wilting point spells danger. A halfstrength water-soluble fertilizer every three weeks is all you need.
There are 29 varieties in the Heart to Heart series to give you many more choices for the garden of your dreams.