some will return even in DFW area. Why? perhaps yours were in a microclimate that kept the ground from freezing. The bulbs thought they were in zone 10

I've had caladiums come back sometimes here in DFW, but not usually all that I planted and not as robust. You probably won't get a 3rd year out of them - at least I never have.

My neighbor has hers in pots, and they come back every year. I always dig mine up, but after talking to her, I'm going to try leaving them in one bed that is very protected.

The microclimate is good. The flowerbed is located in a southern exposure with a seven foot stone wall to the rear that is attached to a terraced flagstone patio built on yards and yards of concrete. So, with a heatsink attached to a solar reflector I am making a tropical garden. I plan to take out some crape myrtle and the hated nandina to install a Jacaranda mimosifolia. The biggest problem is the thin soil and lack of moisture. That thin, hard soil is the reason I gave up on digging out the caladiums. My previous experience is with gardening a wooded hillside that sloped down to Little Difficult Run in northern Virginia. We had deeper and richer soil but the critter population was as troublesome. We had deer, fox, possum, coons, chipmunks, snails, snakes, and the dreaded Japanese beetle. I do miss the Eastern box turtles that mated and nested in my daylily bed. They came back from their winter hibernation in the creekbed for at least five years running. I called the male "Homer" because he climbed the slope in mid April every year and made straight for the same flowerbed. My wife named the female "Lucy" because Ricky Ricardo was always yelling "Hohnny I'm hooome!" Any advice on hostas? I had a lovely assortment in Virginia, but I have planted none in Austin because I am told they do not do well here. My hostas were highly favored by the Ruby-throated hummingbirds, as was the Kirengeshoma palmata. Here in Austin I grow Mexican flamevine, Hamelia patens, Russelia equisetiformis, coral honeysuckle, and trumpet vine.

What's the difference in caladiums bought in pots and those bought as tubers? Don't the pot plants eventually make tubers? If so, I don't understand why they don't over-winter. If they don't make tubers, why not? Are they a different type of plant?

I may be mistaken, but I believe the difference is those in the pots started as tubers, just the same but were pushed by heat to grow faster. Sometimes you'll buy them and they are already at the end of their growing cycle...sometimes they are top heavy.

I've had both with good results but like to use the tubers if they are in good shape. They nestle in, make their roots and in the heat grow really fast. But I believe they started out essentially the same form only one was started for you and ready known color for your bed. The other might be a big surprise!