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verasc

Calla Lilies

verasc
17 years ago

I just received some dark pink calla lilies in a small pot and would like to know what I should do to assure that I can get it to survive for a few years. I had planted a white calla lily in the ground several years ago and I believe it came back a couple of years. Since this is a pink one, is it not as hardy as the white ones?

Also, could I plant it into a large pot....about 4 gal instead of in the ground.

Here in SC, just where do I plant it....facing South, East, West or where, and how much sun and how often to water?

Hope someone has some answers.

Vera

Comments (15)

  • shic_2006
    17 years ago

    These are quite easy. Here are mine indoors -

    {{gwi:8841}}
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    {{gwi:1261568}}

  • verasc
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Those are nice photos and they look like the one I received, but I would prefer to put mine in a pot out on our deck and need to know just what conditions I should give it to survive.

  • sandlapper_rose
    17 years ago

    I am just commenting on my experience with my own calla lily. I have not researched them and mine is white and has the white speckled leaves so your dark pink ones may do differently. For the third year now, mine has come up in the Spring and looks fine. I have it in a pot about 12 inches high on my deck. It stays out there year round and I put a little pinestraw mulch over it for the winter and remove it in the Spring. I have not tried growing them in the ground so I don't know whether that would be the same in terms of results. (I am in the midlands of SC.)
    Good luck!
    By the way, my calla lily produced seeds last year and I saved them and planted them in the Spring. I think 100% of them came up and are nice little seedlings so I now have lots of little calla lilies. I am waiting to see if they will look like the parent plant.

  • aisgecko
    17 years ago

    I grow the white ones with spotted leaves in the ground outside and they are perennial for me. They do best here in light shade but can be grown in full sun with enough water. If you container grow them on a deck you must be sure to water them a lot! If you can place them so that they get afternoon shade, they would prefer that. I think overwintering them outside in a container might be iffy (depending on the winter). I can't say if the pink ones are as hardy. I've been wanting to get some other colors and give them a try. -Ais.

  • qqqq
    17 years ago

    I grow Callas outside in partial shade. I grow the white ones with no problems. They are as trouble free as they are beautiful.

    I have read somewhere that the pink ones are not as hardy but in your zone I'd imagine they won't have any problems.

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    17 years ago

    I had a yellow Calla I bought in bloom last year from Home Depot. Since I figured the best luck with it wouldn't be in my junky clay soil, I potted it into an 8 inch container. When winter came I put the pot in my unheated garage and forgot about it. When I was taking other plants out of the garage to harden them off this spring, I put out this container with only dry potting soil in it. I watered it (what the heck, maybe it's still alive I thought), and now I have several shoots peaking out. I'm assuming the bulb split, and I will have to grow the new "bulbets" on. It's a experiment in progress for me. Who knows. I may end up with lots of yellow callas or just lots of foliage, or considering the heat has already seared my brain, a dead bunch of plantlets. The fact that it lived with no water all winter (the foliage had already gone when I placed it inside the garage) is new info to me.

  • ankraras
    17 years ago

    From my personal experience I do find the dwarf varieties appear to be a bit more touchy. They are ready
    to go dormant any day now.

    {{gwi:465877}}

  • the_virginian
    17 years ago

    I am trying both the pink and the white variety here in Northern Virginia and we shall see if they come back in the ground after this coming winter. They look happy in the ground now and are growing quite well.

  • homegrownsc
    17 years ago

    I'm very new to gardening. I bought several colors last Spring/Early Summer after they were marked down. I planted them in full sun. They grew fairly well and produced some pretty foliage. I took them up in the Fall and stored them over the Winter to replant several weeks ago. I missed a couple which are now in bloom. One has a six flowers and the other, one. They are white with a pink "rim" around the top and appear to be very happy. It may just be a fluke that they overwintered since it was such a mild Winter here but they are gorgeous. The ones that I took up and replanted this year are again, only foliage so far.

  • jeff_al
    17 years ago

    i find they(the giant white ones with solid green leaves)love shade and moisture in zone 8.
    had them in mid-day sun and they faded quickly.
    bright all-day shade or morning sun only with afternoon shade works best for me. they also can be adapted to growing in water gardens so do not let them dry out, esp. in containers.
    would assume the spotted leaved and colored ones would like similar conditions and may be more cold sensitive. (?)

  • corar4gw
    17 years ago

    Yes, calla lillies need their water! Saw them blooming their pretty heads off on shady stream banks in California. Definetly wet feet. The ones I have here in N Fl have stayed alive - for the most part - and even bloomed this spring. But in spite of a sprinkler system, they're not thriving. Perhaps too much sun, but they DO get afternoon shade. I'm guessing that sand just isn't what callas need to grow in!

  • charliesaunt
    17 years ago

    Hello. I'm in Clemmons, N.C. and grow both the pink and white in the ground now for the past three years. One of our winters was extremely cold and I was sure I would lose the bulbs...but NO, they came back and doubled in plants. Also have a beautiful orange toned calla lily. Have to watch these plants because the Japanese beetles love the blooms.

  • gardens1948
    17 years ago

    About 20 years ago I planted a white, a yellow and a pink calla lily. I'm not much on digging up bulbs so I decided to leave them in the ground and if they survived fine, if not I'd just plant more. They survived and over the next years they multiplied and multiplied. I moved some around to other beds and some simply moved on their own I guess because they just popped up everywhere. I even gave some away.

    In about '95 or '96 we had several pretty harsh winters in Charlottesville and the ground froze really hard and I lost most of my callas. That next spring just a few of the original ones came up but they bloomed pretty well. Over the last 10 or so years they'ev started to multiply again so hopefully they will continue until we have another hard winter freeze.

    I think the trick is to plant them in a protected area or at least a semi-protected area.

    Ann

  • gw:jeanie-f
    17 years ago

    Hi I'm near Elizabethtown North Carolina. This is my second with Calla Lilies. I dug the bulbs up last fall and planted in other flower beds in the spring. I had Calla Lilies everywhere but the only ones that bloomed were the ones I missed from last year. And they were beautiful pink, white, yellow ,a butter color. So this year I'll leave them all in the ground and see what happens. They are planted in the full sunny areas. But they are watered everyday.

  • dananguyen
    13 years ago

    will anyone help me. I have two bush of yellow calla lilly, one of the bush the flowers are not yellow but green, and the other one is still yellow. What do I have to add to make it yellow.