Q.Should I remove elephant ear and caladiums in my area
Just need to know if my elephant ears and caladiums need to be taken out of the ground in the northwestern part of South Carolina? Or can they be heavily mulched and survive staying outside? Thanks!
Caladium and elephant ears are both tropical plants; the standard warning for temperatures is nothing below 55 - 45F, although sometimes they can withstand a few hours 38 - 32F. Kind of a broad range, because there can be a variation between cultivars and individual plants. In your area, which is sort of on the border, some people would recommend you to dig them up and overwinter indoors, others would say you can keep them outdoors under heavy mulch. If you have enough plants, you could try both approaches, just to see what happens. If you bring in the caladiums, treat them the same as the elephant ears.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/bgen/storing-bulbs-in-south.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/elephant-ear/storing-elephant-ear-bulbs.htm
