Purple heart and coleus are good. Another classic is impatiens or begonias as they do well in the same conditions. They, like the caladiums are only annuals. Well, there is a hardy begonia, but that isn't what i meant. purple heart will come back in our area. You can dig your caladium bulbs after the foliage withers and store them in a dry frost free place over the winter and plant them again next year. I do mine in pots, keep the pots on top of my standup freezer in the basement and just rewater come spring. Works like a charm!

I was thinking purple hearts too-- just cause I know I could do that cheaper than begonias--I love begonias but thought I'd save those for a smaller spot. I need to really be careful with the $$

Actually, I have some elephant ear and some dwarf canna and orchic glads--maybe some combo of all of the above would work well. not sure about the glads.

Will caladiums fair well most of the summer here--assuming I water them faithfully? Thanks!

Yup- they'll go til early to mid fall so long as they are sheltered from the hot afternoon sun and get enough water. Helps to pinch out any blooms, since they sap the energy. Ditto for coleus, if you plant them. They go right up til frost if you keep off the blooms. Purple heart will spread nicely. If you can find someone who has it already, they'll probably be happy to share some later in the season and you can expand easily and cheaply that way. They root readily. Another thought if it's not too shady would be the wave petunias and or the ornamental sweet potatoes. Neither is hardy, but both make a good 3'+ spread by summer's end.

Tamelask--do you keep the caladiums in pots all summer or just when you dig them up in fall?

I already have some purple heart rooting--love that stuff!

The bed is on east side of house so I think won't get the afternoon sun so much, dappled sun to sun.

If you keep caladiums in a pot all summer-- do you have a 'rule of thumb' for pot sizes?

thank you for all your great ideas! maryt

I like to buy the cheap tropical hanging baskets and plant them in the ground under large trees. Things like Wandering Jew and Plectranthus - lots of color, lots of spread, minimal root size (good for under trees where there isn't much water since the tree roots take it all). Anything with red or purple tones will set off the pink or red colors of the Caladiums.

thank you trianglejohn-- that does sound like a good idea.
I think what I'd like to see is lots of different textures --which that would surely do. Whereabouts do you look for 'cheap tropical hanging baskets'? thanks! Mary

All the big box stores - especially their half price or discount racks (not all have them). And places like K-mart and Walmart. This time of year, most garden centers are at their premium prices. Good sales don't happen until long after the spring rush is over (July/August).

I plant caladium's in pots that are about 16" tall and place as many as I can get in the pot with about 3" in between each bulb. Before the first freeze I haul them out to the old tobacco barn and there they stay until spring. I then add a little osmocote, water well and wait until they show signs of growth. They survive like this year after year.

yeah- what brenda said, basically. i have a wooden planter on my porch that i can squeeze 6 or 8 3 gallon pots in side by side and keep the caladiums in those. They go in for summer, and i have a separate set that i plant with pansies or lettuces, etc that i use for winter. So mine aren't going in the ground, but there's no reason why you couldn't sink pots in the ground or use decorative ones and leave them above ground. i do plant a few in the ground each year, but am not as good at preserving those bulbs. Oh, i dig them, they just never make it into a bag with some barely moist peat and where they are happy in the basement, so i usually kill them with neglect. If it's not easy, i'm not likely to succeed with it. I've tried just throwing them on the surface of the other pots, but the cold gets them that way. The peat or sawdust insulates them just a little- enough. The ones in the pots almost always come back bigger & better each year.

I don't know if it would work under trees as far as the water situation, but I love caladiums with the plain green elephant ears. Caladiums really add a nice splash of color to them. You can buy the non hardy ones at the grocery store pretty cheap. Look for taro, cocoyam, dasheen, eddo, eddoe... in the fall you can dig them or mulch them and take a chance that they may come back. I use to pot them up and set them in the sunshine and didn't water until they start sprouting... then you can plant them where you want. Once they're up feed well and they really take off. Not sure how you plan to water the rest of it, espeically with it being under trees, but for the EE's you can use a drip hose or maybe bury 2 liter bottles (with a pinhole in the bottom) with them for watering and mulch well.