Bulbs species that grow well in the Deep South (Part 2)

Caladiums, mostly grown commercially on muck soils in south Florida, represent the other end of the climatic adaptability scale (they are tropicals)  With reasonable care you can get several years of good performance from them.  These should not be planted until the soil temperature is about 65 F or above.  The tubers will not have roots at this time but you can tell which end is up: the bottoms are smooth and rounded, and there are several pointed buds on top.  However, if you plant caladium upside down you will just get more, somewhat smaller, leaves than if you plant right-side up.

When greenhouse growers want caladiums to make more leaves for full pots, they often cut out the central, largest, bud.  This allows the lateral buds, which would have been kept dormant by the large bud, to sprout.  This central bud sometimes produces one large leaf, followed by the flower, which has a typical jack-in-the pulpit shape.  Some of the flowers are quite pretty, but if you do not want flowers, break them off early.  When the leaves mature and begin to die back in summer (they have a genetic tendency to do this), lift the tubers and let them dry in a cool place until the old dry leaves can be pulled off easily.  Then store them in ventilated containers (old stocking or mesh bags are good) in a warm, but not hot, place until the soil warms up in spring.

There is a group of caladium varieties called strap-leafed; their leaves are lanceolate rather than heart-shaped.  These have thicker leaves and are better suited for open sun.  Those with heart-shaped leaves do better in partial shade (even though they are grown under full sun in south Florida).

Several kinds of irises are well adapted to the humid South;  one group originated in Louisiana.  The bulbous irises are called Dutch iris.  The parent species are native to Spain and northern Africa;  it seems that everything the Dutch grow is called Dutch.  Some selections of Dutch irises will establish and persist in our climate, but many are no happier here than are tulips.

Louisiana irises have a color range surpassing that of the other groups.  Hobbyist breeders have improved the form and colors far beyond those you see in our swamps.  These are very tough plants with relatively few problems and will grow despite poor soil drainage that would kill many bulbous plants.  This does not mean that they require poor drainage; like most plants they respond to care.  They grow well in partial shade but need full sun to bloom.  The bloom period is from early spring into early summer.  After several seasons of growth the rhizomes usually branch, older leaves are shed, and bare sections of the rhizomes appear between newer leaves.  This is a good time to dig, divide, replant and share the extra rhizomes with friends.

Japanese iris also thrives in the South, producing large, relatively flat flowers.  These vary in color and form, with some having wider floral segments than others.  Like the Louisiana irises, they grow from rhizomes as well as from seed.  Hobbyists have made great improvements in these also.

You will see lots of Lycoris radiata, the red spider lily or hurricane lily, which blooms in the fall before its leaves emerge.  Other species of Lycoris are not as well adapted to the coastal South but ill do well a bit farther north.  These include yellows, flesh colors, coral shades and in the case of L. squamigera (surprise Lily), pink flowers on two-foot stems in July.  It seems to us that, with only a little effort, breeders could improve the climatic range of these attractive plants......(to be continued)