Caladiums are the perfect choice for a shady spot in the garden.

Caladiums act as the “thriller” in many of my shade containers. The thriller is the plant that takes center stage in the pot, surrounded with fillers and then spillers, which soften the edges of the container.These foliage plants are grown from a tender bulb, which can be saved over the winter and replanted the next spring.The plants are often found at local garden centers already leafed out in pots or as bulbs which can be planted in the garden or in containers.Deer will nibble on caladiums, but it’s not a favorite food.Most caladiums enjoy morning sun and afternoon shade, but there are some newer varieties suited for more sun. Mine grow in some of the shadiest parts of the garden, usually in consort with impatiens, torenia, begonias and other shade lovers.What makes caladiums so special is the beautiful colors and variegations on the foliage. They will produce all the way to frost.Saving caladium bulbs is easy. Once the foliage gets zapped by frost, remove the bulbs from their pot and dry them for a couple days on newspaper.Every gardener stores their bulbs differently, I use vermiculite as a medium in a large plastic container with a lid.Place the bulbs on a layer of the vermiculite so that they don’t touch. Cover them with another inch of medium and then more bulbs. Continue the process until the bulbs are all in the container.Store them in cool place that does not get below freezing.Next spring, pot them up in a good planting mix and once they get going, the plants can be put in the garden or used in containers.One of the fun things I’ve been doing is partnering with Flowerbulbs.com, they don’t sell bulbs, the site is all about educating and promoting bulb planting, which is exactly what I do.There’s a lot of great information on their site about planting and caring for bulbs.