Some white caladiums suffer from burn or become stressed-looking, but this new beauty keeps its fresh, ghostly appearance all season. Bred by University of Florida for superior use in small containers, 'Moonlight' Caladium offers splendid long-lasting color with well-defined highlights on bushy, vigorous plants.
Each angular heart-shaped leaf on this plant is pure white, with a very thin dark green edge and spidery green minor veins. Down the midrib is a ribbon of brilliant magenta-purple, just to keep things interesting. Well-layered, robust, and full, this is a showpiece of a caladium.
'Moonlight' Caladium is very adaptable to different garden spots, and looks terrific alongside other fancy-leaved types such as Sweetheart, or in contrast to its "strap" cousin Red Ruffles.
Caladium is easy to grow and very rewarding. The only thing you can really do wrong is to plant the bulbs too early in spring; they need really warm soil, so wait until the garden soil feels pleasantly warm when you sink your index finger into it. Set them "upside down"the knobby side upand before you know it, long, furled tendrils will shoot up, each opening to reveal a long, slender, ruffled red leaf. 'Moonlight' remains attractive for many months, asking only to be dug up before the first hard frost and stored in a cool, dark location until next spring.
