Caladium 'Red Ruffles'

This foliage is so elegant -- long, slender, and deeply ruffled, adding nice texture to any setting. The plant sets its leaves in layers, for a lovely "mounded up" look that really makes the garden or planter look lush! Each leaf is a brilliant strawberry-red with a crisp spring-green edge. Striking!

Unlike fancy-leaved Caladiums, 'Red Ruffles' is tolerant of full sunshine, though it flourishes best if given a bit of shade. This makes it much more adaptable to different garden spots -- and its compact size ensures that it will look great in any space, large or small! Give it well-drained soil and it will take off, combining well in front of fancy-leaved types such as 'Sweetheart', or alongside its "strap" cousin 'White Wing.'

Caladium is easy to grow and very rewarding. The only thing you can really do wrong is to plant the bulbs too early in spring; they need really warm soil, so wait until the garden soil feels pleasantly warm when you sink your index finger into it. Set them "upside down" -- the knobby side up! -- and before you know it, long, furled tendrils will shoot up, each opening to reveal a long, slender, ruffled red leaf! 'Red Ruffles' forms a lush plant just 12 to 14 inches tall, 18 inches wide. (If you're planting a bunch of 'Red Ruffles' in the garden, space the bulbs about 15 inches apart for solid coverage -- and bask in the glory of this attention getter all season!)

This plant remains for many months, asking only to be dug up before the first hard frost and stored in a cool, dark location until next spring!