Miss Muffet 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.

Description:

This stunning variety offers speckles, splashes, and spectacular contrast; chartreuse leaves with white veins, spattered with burgundy spots and blush; a great container or basket plant, indoors or out

Miss Muffet Caladium's attractive heart-shaped leaves remain chartreuse in color with distinctive burgundy spots and tinges of creamy white throughout the season. Neither the flowers nor the fruit are ornamentally significant.

Miss Muffet 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.

How To Plant Elephant Ears & Caladium

 caladium tubers must never sit in waterlogged soil or they will rot. 

Soil temperature is an important consideration, as planting too early outdoors can cause tubers to rot. These plants thrive in moist, well-drained soil and are generally happier in partial shade. When you plant Elephant Ears & Caladium, you should plant them about 4 to 6 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches apart

If you’re growing caladiums indoors, keep them in a warm room with plenty of light until outside temperatures are warm enough to transplant. Elephant Ears & Caladium Tubers should be planted about one to two inches deep with the knobs, or eye buds, facing up. While this may sometimes be difficult to distinguish in some varieties, those that are planted upside down will still emerge, only slower.

Greenhouse Growing Instructions:

Maintain temperature above 70°F even at night. For best results, water should also be 60-70°F, keep evenly moist at all times. Moderate light levels are optimal and no fertilizer necessary. Generally finish in 8-10 weeks based on growing conditions. 

• Plants Per Gallon: 1 
• Storage Temperature Prior to Planting: 65-70 
• Cooler Humidity Prior to Planting: High

Transplanting Instructions:

Use well draining potting soil with high organic content. If planting in 4 or 6" pots this variety can be "de-eyed" to increase leaf count and uniformity. Place bulbs flat side down with eyes facing up and cover bulbs with 1.5-2" of soil. Water well.

Homeowner Planting and Maintenance Tips:

Caladiums are extremely easy to grow in moist, well-drained soil. These shade loving but sun tolerant plants thrive in heat and humidity.

Planting & Growing

Miss Muffet Caladium will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 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 partial shade to 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.