Many of you are familiar with the term "surprise lilies." This name is mostly attributed to members of the Lycoris genus. In the South the red Lycoris radiata and yellow Lycoris aurea are two of the most treasured surprise lilies. We are approaching their season of bloom.

If you aren’t familiar with the term surprise lily, here's why they are called that: We forget about them, including where they were planted, but suddenly as school approaches, they begin to bloom in glorious displays.

But have you heard of surprise caladiums? As the old country song goes, what I am about to tell you is my story and I am sticking to it.

Truth be told, I suppose there are no surprise caladiums. Oh, there are always one or two in my zone 8. But in the 2026 garden year, I had dozens of surprise caladiums.

It started in 2025 when I planted Heart to Heart Lemon Blush on each side of a walkway on a slope leading up to our wooden swing. The sides of the walkway are also lined with Soprano impatiens, Let’s Dance hydrangeas and Shadowland hosta varieties.

Heart to Heart Lemon Blush was Proven Winners' Caladium of the Year in 2024. This caladium is a multi-award winner including Director’s Select at Penn State University. Lemon Blush is a fancy leaf shade introduction with rose red centers and wide chartreuse margins.

The huge surprise is that almost all of the Heart to Heart Lemon Blush caladiums returned in the spring of 2026. I suppose this is commonplace in warmer zones. Soil structure, temperature and moisture levels no doubt played a role.

The pathway was created by the previous owner and is comprised of flagstone and fine pea gravel over a loamy soil base. I planted the caladium bulbs in May 2025.

Georgia was in a two-year drought, but the caladiums flourished in 2025 thanks to supplemental irrigation. The drought broke in May and June of 2026. The Garden Guy is a horticulturist and not an agronomist or meteorologist, but I feel like the drought played a helpful role with the dormant caladium bulbs.

The perfect drainage during the winter of 2025-2026 partnered with sparse rains meant the bulbs really didn’t suffer any rot. While the winter was cold, the overhead forest canopy provided just enough winter protection.

In the front yard where I have my "river of caladiums," I had some Heart to Heart Radiance and Heart to Heart Splash of Wine return, but nothing compared to the hillside path in the backyard. This area I call the river has good soil, but it is a little heavier and no pea gravel.

In no way am I suggesting Heart to Heart caladiums will be perennial outside of their zone, which the tag clearly states is zone 10 and warmer. But this happened to The Garden Guy in 2026 in a most rare and enjoyable experience.

This has been an incredible year for caladiums, and you need to get on the bandwagon. When you want to seek the cool indoors to escape the August heat, caladiums will be the plants giving you the look of the islands out in the landscape.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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