What type of ginger do you have? I really, really want the globba wintii (dancing girl ginger) and I think FL has them:) or blue walking iris or blue ginger (really, really want). My oxblood is just now starting to bloom.

I became hooked on caladiums last year and ordered hundreds online. All of my whites have been up for about 3 weeks now. My Miss Muffetts are doing well although they look more yellow this year than last. My Scarlet Pimpernel are half out of the ground. My red flash are JUST poking a few leaves here and there out of the ground. And some other fancy leaved ones I bought @ HD on clearance are just starting to come up too. So, to answer your question; it depends on the variety! Give it another month or so and they'll probably all be out and growing. Don't you just love them????!!!

Caladium are NOT hardy in our climate. They are most often sold in leaf here as a houseplant. For seasonal use outdoors, they are best grown as a container plant and started indoors early in spring - our summers are just too cool to promote much growth unless they get a good head start. Same with cannas (although winter hardy, in-ground cannas don't usually emerge and develope good foliage in the NW until well into summer. Sometimes won't even bloom unless a very hot summer).

Yes, it can be done, especially if you are growing them in containers. Pot them up but keep the containers in a warm location until the tubers sprout. Once the foliage is up and growing, you can move them to their summer home in shade. The attached link suggests a June 1st planting date for your area. You can probably bump that up a bit if you start them in containers first. Container soil heats up faster than inground soil, particularly if the containers are placed somewhere where they will receive reflected heat, like a sunny patio or walkway. And unless your nighttime temperatures drop drastically during the growing season, they will retain much of the heat they absorb during the day. Containers are much more subject to the influence of ambient air temperatures so even in shade the soil will stay warm in your hot summers. (see the "Landscaping Tip" in the link for how another cold zone gardener (Ohio) grows caladiums) Here is a link that might be useful: growing caladiums