Heart To Heart® White Star Caladium

Light Needs

Partial Shade to Full Sun

(At Least 3 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

15 - 20 Inches

Mature Spread

10 - 14 Inches

Heart To Heart White Star Caladium (Caladium hortulanum ‘White Star’) brings a cool, luminous note to summer displays with elongated, slightly ruffled leaves brushed in soft pink veins on a snowy background and framed in deep green. A small crimson eye where each stem meets the blade adds unexpected contrast. Clumps rise to about 18 inches and keep their crisp color from late spring until autumn chill. Because the foliage rather than flowers carries the show, the plant looks fresh even on sultry July afternoons and never drops messy petals. Its strap-leaf form delivers a graceful, upright mound that slides easily into both tropical themes and classic shade borders.

With heat tolerance and reliable deer resistance, White Star thrives from humid Gulf Coast gardens to sheltered Midwest patios. The growth habit registers as a midsize filler in mixed containers yet reads as a focal accent when grouped along walkways or massed beneath trees. Native to Amazonian regions, it needs warmth but accepts anything from morning shade under maples to full coastal sun provided soil stays moist. Cut leaves hold their form for days in indoor arrangements, adding a painterly touch to bouquets.

Heart To Heart® White Star Caladium Care

Plant tubers after nights sit above 65°F, positioning them two inches deep, pointed ends up, in humus-rich soil that drains well but never bakes dry. Give the clump full shade in desert zones, bright shade farther north, or filtered sun that intensifies the pink veins without scorching the white tissue. Water whenever the top inch feels dry, and feed every other week with a quarter-strength balanced fertilizer; heavy nutrition can scorch pale areas. Remove any weather-tattered leaves at the base to keep the mound tidy—fresh foliage will replace them quickly.

In zones 10–11 the tubers can overwinter outdoors and push new leaves each spring; elsewhere lift them before frost, dry for a week, and store at 60°F until replanting. Potted plants transition indoors easily and will continue to show leaves for several months in bright rooms before resting; when foliage yellows, withhold water until new buds break and then resume normal care.

Heart To Heart® White Star Caladium Spacing

Allow 10-14 inches between tubers in beds so mature leaves overlap lightly but still catch airflow. In window boxes and baskets, use a single tuber for every 12 inches of container length, setting it toward the center so emerging leaves can fan out. A lone tuber fills an 8-inch cachepot, while three create an instant statement in a 14-inch patio planter. Always choose pots with drainage holes to prevent waterlogging.

SKU:

CALWS