Celebrating Caladiums, and Remembering Their Growers

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We’ve spent much of the weekend glued to news reports from Florida, watching the progress of Hurricane Irma on radar on our tablets, and checking the National Hurricane Center’s updates.  We have weathered a hurricane or three here in coastal Virginia, and have a pretty good idea what our neighbors in Florida are going through.

Of course, they are facing off with the biggest, strongest hurricane to hit the United States in any of our memories.  And hurricane force winds and rain have swept across the entire state.

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Caladium ‘Desert Sunset,’ a 2016 introduction from Classic Caladiums. C. ‘Sweet Carolina’ is peeking out to the left.

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Our thoughts turn to friends and family in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.  We appreciate all that local governments have done to prepare, and marvel at the can-do spirit shown by even political rivals in the face of this catastrophe.  Let’s hope that more than a little of that pragmatic, cooperative spirit lingers once the flood waters clear and the clean-up and re-building commence.

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Calaldium ‘White Delight’ was introduced in 2015 by Classic Caladiums.

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Our Caladium suppliers all live and work in central Florida.  Classic Caladiums is based in Avon Park.  Another supplier is based just to the south in Lake Placid.  This part of Florida produces tons and tons of Caladium tubers each summer.

In fact, Florida produces a large percentage of the plugs and plants sold through nurseries on the East Coast.  I hope these hard working, largely family businesses, can weather a storm of this magnitude.  I certainly hope their crops and infrastructure can bounce back.  I would surely miss them.

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Caladium ‘Gingerland’

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I try to keep in mind the small businesses that feed my gardening addiction.  It is only through their dedication and continued hard work that such an amazing wealth of plants is brought to market each year.  These folks love the plants they raise and sell.  They work hard to educate the rest of us and to support the thousands of gardeners, like us, who turn to them each season.

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Caladium ‘Pink Beauty’

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And I believe that our best gesture of appreciation is to loyally support them with our repeat business.

I know it’s easy and cheap to turn to the big box stores for our plant purchases.  We can get inexpensive bulbs at Costco, bedding plants at Wal Mart, and shrubs at Lowes.  And I won’t pretend that I’ve not ‘been there, done that’ from time to time.

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And yet, every time I return to our local family run nursery, I’m reminded of the level of quality and customer service they bring to each transaction.  Many of the plants they sell are raised in the neighboring county, and come from greenhouse to nursery in an hour or less.  I am glad to support them and invest in their continued success!

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Caladium ‘Moonlight’ with hardy Begonia is in the pot, and C. ‘White Christmas’ grows beside it.

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We do our best to support small, local businesses.  When we find a special one, like Brent and Becky’s in neighboring Gloucester County, we deal with them as much as we can.  And we are richly rewarded with fine selection and top quality plants; and also with top quality horticulturalists and fine friendly people!

In fact, the Heaths source the Caladiums they offer each spring from Dr. Robert Hartman at Classic Caladiums in Avon Park.  Brent Heath piqued my interest in Classic Caladiums in the first place, by singing their praises for quality tubers!

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Caladium ‘Sweet Carolina,’ introduced by Classic Caladiums in 2016. 

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We come through trying times best when we pull together.  I know that many of us want to give when we see neighbors in trouble, and there are a plethora of charities wanting to channel our dollars into aid to those affected by catastrophe.

But let’s also keep small businesses in our minds and hearts during these challenging times.  Some purchases may cost us a bit more, but we have the peace of mind that our dollars directly support a family business and  a local economy.  They don’t wash into some vast, corporate pool of profit.

Doing business directly with growers and small nurseries is also a form of insurance.  We help insure their survival, and a continued long and happy relationship with them.

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Today, I’m thinking of our friends in dangerous places, and feeling appreciation for our garden.

I’m enjoying our beautiful Caladiums, even as I remember those who grew and supplied them to us.  I hope their lives return to normal soon, that their challenges are manageable, and that we will enjoy many more beautiful years of working together!

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Woodland Gnome 2017

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“We have to recognise that there cannot be relationships

unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty,

unless there is love, patience,  persistence.”

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Cornel West

 

 

Wednesday Vignette: Dreaming Trees

Ficus afghanistanica ‘Silver Lyre’ planted 2014

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“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world

would go to pieces,

I would still plant my apple tree.”

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Martin Luther

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Star Magnolia planted 2015

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“My own heroes are the dreamers,

those men and women who tried to make the world

a better place than when they found it,

whether in small ways or great ones.

Some succeeded, some failed,

most had mixed results…

but it is the effort that’s heroic, as I see it.

Win or lose,

I admire those who fight the good fight.”

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George R.R. Martin

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Crepe Myrtle planted 2015

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“Most of the important things in the world

have been accomplished

by people who have kept on trying

when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

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Dale Carnegie

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Photos by Woodland Gnome 2016

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Do you plant trees?  Planting a tree, whether for yourself or someone else, is one of the most powerful gestures one can make to assure a happy and healthy future.  Here are just a few of the trees we’ve planted over the last five years.

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The Arbor  Day Foundation sponsors several worthwhile programs to ensure that more community trees are planted each year.  The one which has my interest right now is “Neighborwoods Month.” October is a great time of year for planting trees in our region.   

Perhaps you will consider planting a tree or two of your own between now and the end of October. 

Here is the child’s tree dedication prayer recited in Philadelphia at the planting of a new community tree: 

” We dedicate this tree to beauty, usefulness, and comfort. 

May our lives grow in beauty, usefulness, and comfort to others

even as these trees expand their leafy boughs. 

Let us strive to protect and care for them

and they may so be enjoyed by all people…”

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Bright Christmas

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Caladium ‘White Christmas’ simply glows, illuminated by our August afternoon sun.  These grow beneath a white Crepe Myrtle tree.   You might notice a few white blossoms fallen to the ground beside the Caladiums.

This is a good pairing because the Crepe Myrtle offers filtered shade for our Caladium bed, and the Caladiums fill the space beneath the tree with movement, color and interest.

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Both Crepe Myrtles and Caladiums grow happily and easily in our garden.  Neither suffers from munching or pests and they require minimal care, while giving maximum pleasure.  This is a great gift for Virginia gardeners; a gift of beauty which lasts for many weeks.

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Calaldiums also pair well with impatiens. These C. ‘White Christmas’ grow in my parents’ garden.

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It is good to have reliable plants in your gardener’s ‘palette’ which you can turn to again and again.  These beautiful white leaves, and white flowers, keep the garden bright during the toughest months of our summer season.

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C. ‘White Christmas’ looks crisp and cool planted with ferns.

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They create an illusion of coolness.  And the Caladiums will maintain their beauty until hit by frost.  Crepe Myrtles generally offer us at least 100 days of flowers each year.

Are these plants you can grow in your garden?  Do you share our August  ‘Bright, white Christmas’ ?

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Woodland Gnome 2016

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Lagerstroemia indica ‘Natchez’ grows to 30′ high in our area. These beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees naturalize and grow with little assistance or cultivation.  I prefer to prune and shape our trees in late winter to direct their strong growth and promote abundant summer flowers.  Their peeling bark and sculptural form looks beautiful in the landscape through the winter.  Leaves turn bright orange-red in autumn.