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The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom©

By: Arlene Wright Correll

Those of us who are Katherine Hepburn fans will always remember that famous line in one of her movies, "The Calla Lilies are in bloom!"

These wonderful, hardy bulbs or tubers are great perennials and wonderful multipliers when planted in the correct zones which are 3-8 and hardy in 8-10 according to many nurseries, yet here in zone 6 they have been coming back for about 6 years now.

These are often used by florists in bridal bouquets. I discovered them accidentally, one year; in my local gardening center and they reminded me of the famous movie line so I purchased a mixed bag of about 10 and planted them that fall.

Although the Calla lily is called a lily it is not really a lily, it belongs to the same family as the jack-in-the-pulpit and the caladium, but it is not as hardy.

The unique and stately colored foliage of calla lily is trumpet shaped and the outer colored leaves are referred to as spathes which encircle the spadix which is a tapering yellow enclosure for the actual flower. The green leaves of the calla lily are shaped like arrowheads and usually have silver or white speckles.

The tubers have finger-like growths on them. Our soil is Kentucky clay and I had to amend it with mulch and organic matter to give them the conditions they like. Calla lilies do well in containers and even make lovely house plants.

I have never had to dig mine up, but if I lived in a northern zone I would dig them up after the foliage had withered away and store the tubers in a cool, dry location until spring since this will prevent any cut portions you created when you divided them to dry since any cut portions will rot. I would store them in open bags or containers filled with peat moss, vermiculite or perlite. Then in the spring, after all danger of frost had passed I would replant the tubers and at that time they should be fertilized with a good organic 5-10-1- or 5-10-16 fertilizer.

Keep pets and children away from calla lilies as they contain a poisonous ingredient called oxalic acid and if this plant is ingested you should contact a poison control center immediately.

Keeping that caution in mind you will not get a more glorious flower than a Calla lily as they come in all kinds of colors and are a truly beautiful sight to behold.


Author Resource:-> For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, "All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site."

Article From Organic Gardening Articles