Bold swaths of color brighten the partly shady back yard of Dean Brown's garden in Richardson's Canyon Creek neighborhood. Strokes of rich red create a display under Shumard oaks. Clusters of bright white and deep pink embolden the shade under a pecan.

Each year, Mr. Brown plants up to 800 caladium tubers to provide color, writ large, on his property.

Caladiums trump other shade-loving annuals when it comes to providing masses of color. "They are easy to grow, they aren't bothered by pests or disease, and they grow in any improved soil," says Mr. Brown, a Dallas County master gardener so smitten with the tropical plant that he became a wholesale distributor of the tubers.

"In the shade, most everything that grows is green. Caladiums make shade more interesting. They add color and texture," says Mr. Brown.

"I love the reds. I can't get enough of the red. It's my favorite color."

Caladiums are not just sturdy. They also are showy.

Varieties range in height, typically from 1 to 2 feet tall and wide, with the largest sporting colorful leaves up to 2 feet long. Caladium flowers are inconsequential, but the plant's show-stopping leaves are markedly veined or spotted in shades of white, pinks, reds and greens. The size and colors allow caladiums to outshine the meeker presence of popular but smaller shade bloomers, such as impatiens and bedding begonias.

The punch of color is a welcome addition to Mr. Brown's back yard, where he finds multiple uses for caladiums. "I started out just planting a few," he says. "Then I found out how easy they are to grow."

'Red Flash' caladiums circle the shady foot of a tall-growing juniper, a technique that allows for a year-long green backdrop once the caladiums droop in the fall. A double red 'Knockout' rose is ringed with red-to-pink-speckled 'Gingerland' caladiums to create an echo of color.

Mr. Brown plants caladiums in pots with flowers, and the larger, heart-shaped caladium leaves help cover their companions' spent blooms. Even hanging baskets sport caladiums to add height and fullness.

Hybridizing has produced not just varieties of different sizes and colors, but also types of caladiums that tolerate part sun. These shorter, so-called strap-leaf varieties are used as edging for beds.

In Mr. Brown's yard, he finds that the white varieties pick up a green tint when they get more sun. The red-leafed types, he says, are more apt to fade or burn in the sun.

Caladiums also enchant Carl and Frances Brooks of Mesquite, who pot up 400 caladium tubers each spring.

"We have so much shade here," says Mrs. Brooks. "I'm a flower person. I want to see color, but we don't get many blooms back here."

The couple runs a yard- maintenance company, and they buy cases of caladiums each spring for their customers as well as for themselves. Their own back yard, too shady to support grass, is covered with paving stones and large groups of pots overflowing with the warm reds, pinks, cool whites and soothing greens of caladiums. Their large pots, more than a dozen, are watered daily for 15 minutes by an automatic drip system.

Pots are grouped so that those in back are on risers, a method that creates tiers of color. Each pot is planted with as many as 30 tubers per 20-inch-diameter pot.

Mrs. Brooks is partial to the fancy-leaf hybrids whose broad, heart-shaped leaves unfurl to a span that's mostly white. "To me," she says, "they look like angel wings."

Mrs. Brooks typically plants a different type of caladium in each container, except for one large pot that is reserved for a showy display of nine different varieties.

The huge leaves of 'White Christmas' with their delicate green tracery are shoulder to shoulder with 'White Queen' veined in red and green. 'Miss Muffet' peeks through the larger-leaved varieties with foliage of light green speckled in red. The compatible leaf shapes and common colors form a textured display and, best of all, they have one thing in common.

"They are so easy. All they need is water," Mrs. Brooks says.

Jessie Milligan is a Fort Worth freelance writer.

As a wholesaler, Dean Brown of Richardson has access to fresh caladium tubers each year, but he says tubers can be dug and replanted the following spring.

Here are his tips:

•Dig tubers before the leaves fall and dry out.

•Set tubers with the leaves attached in a sunny spot until foliage dries.

•Store tubers in a cardboard box in a dry room that is about 60 degrees.

•Some of the tubers will dry out and some may rot and feel mushy, but the remaining firm, heavy bulbs can be replanted once outdoor temperatures warm in mid-May. Mother's Day is usually cited in the Dallas area as caladium- planting weekend. They don't like cool soil and it may stunt their growth to put them into the ground prematurely. You should buy caladiums as soon as you see them in stores, usually in mid-March, to get your choice of color and pattern. Store them in a cool, dry place.

FANCY LEAF:The most common type of caladium grows 2 to 4 feet tall and wide with heart-shaped leaves. Popular cultivars include the white and green 'Aaron' and 'White Queen', with red and green veins on white.

STRAP LEAF:These shorter caladiums grow to about a foot tall and have narrower leaves. 'Pink Gem' with red veins and green edges on pink is one example.

LANCE LEAF:The narrowest-leaved variety, this caladium is almost a foot tall. 'Lance Wharton' in pink with red veins is a popular selection.

DWARF:Reaching about 2 feet high or taller, these caladiums get the name dwarf because their leaves are not as broad. 'Gingerland' with green leaves spotted in pink shades is one example.

SOURCE: The Southern Living Garden Book