The Garden Guy made a trip across town to chat with son James and came away giddy on one hand and grumpy on the other because I had been scooped. I am used to being the dud when it comes to comparing my plant partnerships with his, but this time he showed me up with a new variety. I’m the new variety guy, not this whippersnapper, but he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat with this year’s new Heart to Heart Burning Heart caladium.

First thought: How come I didn’t have them? Second thought: There can’t really be a caladium with that color. This caladium is a tropical flaming red with a few specks. It is a screaming red that says “look at me!” How could I have missed it at the University of Georgia trials? It scored 4.5 out of 5 through the entire season. I desperately want some, and you will too.

Growing Heart to Heart caladiums is so easy. You may have heard the old saying, that plant is so easy to grow, all you have to do is plant the green-side up. Well, I am here to tell you when it comes to Heart to Heart caladium tubers, all you have to do is plant the white side up. The bulbs have been painted, showing you what side is up.

But this year it is even easier than that, as all of our garden centers have been selling container-grown plants. These you simply plant in your well-prepared bed and set them in the ground where the top of the root ball is even with the soil surface.

(Note: The “Garden Guy” lives in the South. In Connecticut’s growing zones, it is best to treat these caladiums as annuals, since the tubers cannot survive a cold winter. But bring them indoors in the fall and baby them til late spring, and you should be good to go again. Just keep them in containers rather than trying to plant them in the ground.)

There are 28 Heart to Heart caladiums to choose from with five new varieties introduced in 2022. Go to Heart to Heart caladiums’ webpage and you’ll find detailed instructions on growing, storing for winter, as well as help choosing the best ones for your amount of sun or shade. Know this, if you have fertile, well-drained soil, you are in business.

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