Happy New Year everyone. Now that the turkey is wearing off, the Christmas decorations have been put away and the snow is starting to build up, it’s time to embrace the new year and begin planning for the best growing season ever. Well, one can hope. The seed catalogs have really started to come in and we will soon turn our eye towards all the new and exciting offerings being held out to tantalize us for 2017. For today’s column, though, I’d like to take one last detailed look at a houseplant. While we were examining the common houseplants of the holiday season through the last few Garden Gossip columns, one in particular caught my attention but I ran out of time to deal with it. Since this plant is so much more than a seasonal curiosity, and in fact is a terrific year round plant, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take the time for a detailed look right now.
The Zantedeschia genus hails from tropical South Africa. Known to most gardeners as the Calla Lily, these plants are actually not lilies at all. They are not at all related to lilies, nor should they be treated like lilies by gardeners. Endemic to wet, swampy, tropical areas, the calla lily does require a little extra effort from northern gardeners if it is to be truly happy. A denizen of swamps by choice, dry and droughty conditions cause calla lilies to go into a state of hibernation. Also, as you can imagine of a South African plants, cold temperatures make them quite unhappy. Ideally calla lilies should never see temperatures below 10°C.
So how do you begin? Well, most calla lilies are forced in tropical greenhouse conditions and then sold in full bloom in stores or greenhouses. You can often see callas sold as a notion plant in grocery stores where their stunningly classic lines and simple beauty are sure to catch the eye and open the pocket book. Once you get your new calla lily home you will need to get it to a place of comfort or the flowers on it will deteriorate quickly and the leaves will brown down leaving you wondering what happened. Calla lilies like to be kept at moderate temperatures, neither too hot nor too cold, and they like to be moist. Calla lily soil should always be moist to the touch (remember they naturally grow by swamps) but not wet as they do seem to rot in a container setting if their feet are too wet. Also, callas really like sunlight, just not at peak times as it is too hot then. An east or west window with direct light should give your calla all the sun it craves.
If your calla lily does dry out and the leaves all dry up and brown down, don’t panic. In its native settings, droughts do happen and the calla is programmed to respond by sleeping through the dry period. If your calla should doze off, let it rest. Give it a month or two and then move it to an appropriately bright window and water it well. The calla rhizome should respond with green leaves very quickly. When kept in “happy” conditions, calla lilies can flower spontaneously and generously year round. There is no real rule to stimulating blooms on your callas as they will simply flower continually if they feel like it. While not much in the way of fertilizer is required by callas, light liquid feedings with very low nitrogen levels can result in your calla producing seeds. These seeds come in the form of small black berries which follow the flowers and can be dried and then planted in a few centimeters of soil. Kept warm and moist, these seeds will germinate and create new rhizomes. If you are really interested in propagating your calla, simply dig up the rhizome and break it. Plant the pieces rough side up and treat like you would a mature plant. Pretty soon you should have two.
Often times calla lilies are offered for sale in garden catalogs. When purchasing your callas this way, expect to receive dry rhizomes (often referred to as bulbs) in the mail. Plant these in rich well drained soil that can be kept moist and warm. Callas can be planted directly in the garden but must be dug up before frost threatens them in the fall. Grown this way they can be treated like gladiola bulbs and planted out each spring or they can be transplanted to pots and enjoyed as a houseplant all winter. Callas do make a classic statement when grown in numbers in pots. The biggest concern is to be sure they never dry out. One great allure of the calla lily is that deer and rabbits tend not to forage on them. Callas are poisonous and should also never be placed where pets can eat them. While some cultures do cook and eat callas, consumed raw they can be potentially fatal.
And, as usual, we seem to have run out of space before we run out of things to say. Come back next week and we will wrap up our discussion of the lovely calla.
