Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Angel Wings, Elephant Ears

Description:

This wonderful sun tolerant variety with a compact-full habit, features salmon pink heart shaped leaves with copper veins; a great selection for patio containers, hanging baskets, garden landscapes and borders; low maintenance and fast growing

Ornamental Features

Desert Sunset Caladium's attractive heart-shaped leaves remain salmon in color with distinctive coppery-bronze veins throughout the season on a plant with a mounded habit of growth.

Landscape Attributes

Desert Sunset Caladium is a dense herbaceous annual with a mounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Desert Sunset Caladium is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting
• Hanging Baskets

Planting & Growing

Desert Sunset Caladium will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 14 inches apart. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Desert Sunset Caladium is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a canvas of foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.