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Boldly dramatic in both flower and foliage, tropical bulbs can bring a lush, colorful appearance to the garden in summertime. These tropical bulbs-corms, root tubers, and rhizomes-produce colorful blooms throughout the warm summer months. Here are a few favorites:
Clockwise, at right: Plant canna, peacock orchid (Acidanthera), and caladium bulbs in early spring to enjoy their summer blooms. A true sun lover, the Acidanthera or peacock orchid has long, sword-shaped leaves and grows about 1 to 2 feet tall. The fragrant white flowers, great for cutting, appear in the late summer months. For a terrific accent plant, the caladium is great for the edges of a garden. Grown for its patterned tropical-looking foliage, the fancy-leaved caladium has 6- to 24-inch-long, arrowhead-shaped leaves. The bright, variegated leaves feature vividly colored veins in red, green, pink or silver. Plant caladium in drifts of a single type in shade gardens or use them in containers either indoors or outside. A subtropical plant related to Jack-in-the-pulpit, the calla lily shares that flower's unusual form. Tiny, petal-less flowers decorate the yellow spike, around which furls a graceful, showy, cone-shaped bract that's white, creamy white, rose-pink and apricot in color. Plant calla lily in groups in midground to the background of borders and naturalistic gardens. They thrive in boggy or damp sites and around garden ponds. Calla lilies grow 2 feet tall and prefer to be planted in either full sun or partial shade locations. The tall, standard canna has large, broad lance-shaped leaves that vary in color from bright green to red-bronze and variegated, like Canna pretoria. Clusters of 4- to 5-inch wide blossoms that resemble orchids or gladiolus appear atop the 11 1/2-inch to 6-foot-tall plants. They are best used in single-color groups to give a bushy effect in borders and as accent plantings near pools or in large containers. There are also dwarf cannas which grow to only 3 feet tall. Both varieties prefer full sun locations. Colocasia, or elephant's-ear, has extra-large, exotic-looking leaves that can look dramatic framing a pool. The plant grows to about 4 to 6 feet tall and prefers shady locations. The colocasia thrives on moisture, so be sure to keep it well-watered; the more moisture the plant receives, the bigger the leaves will become. For bold color in July and August, plant crocosmia or montbretia. The long-lasting, trumpet-shaped flowers showcase brilliant colors of orange, yellow, or red that make a bold accent. The crocosmia is a great container plant for sunny locations, growing only 2 to 4 feet tall. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Bulbs from the Tropics in Garden Planning is owned by Michael Vyskocil. Permission to republish Bulbs from the Tropics in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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