Surviving the Cold: How to Overwinter Caladiums & Properly Store Bulbs
October 6, 2025 | 1 min to read
Most gardeners treat caladiums as annuals, enjoying their foliage from spring to fall and then discarding them like petunias. Except in southern Florida, storing tubers for winter is not recommended because limited growing days prevent sufficient carbohydrate buildup, so stored bulbs underperform compared with fresh ones. If you won’t overwinter caladiums, simply leave them in the ground to decompose and plan to replant with fresh bulbs next season.
In most parts of the country, caladiums are grown as annual plants. They are enjoyed from spring to fall, and then discarded, similar to how you might grow petunias.
Generally, we do not recommend storing bulbs for the winter and replanting the following spring. That’s because, other than in southern Florida, stored bulbs do not perform as well as fresh bulbs because there aren’t enough growing days to accumulate the carbohydrates (energy) necessary for storage and subsequent sprouting the following spring. If you don’t plan on overwintering caladiums, simply leave them in the ground and let them disintegrate.
Learn more about all-season caladium care.