The Calla lily is not a true calla and neither is a true lily. It is also commonly referred to as 'Arum' and yet is not a true arum either. So what is it?
Calla lilies belong to the genus Zantedeschia with several recognized species including aethiopica, elliottiana and rehmannii, the three most common. This plant is native to the southern region of Africa and was named after the Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi. As beautiful as it is, this plant is poisonous when ingested raw due to the presence of calcium oxalate in all its parts.
Now that's my short introduction to this plant.
When it comes to plants, I've had many "love at first sight" moments. And this is definitely one of them. This is one of those "must haves" in my long list of plants. I just don't know if they will survive in our farm's local climate. I know they do in the cooler regions like Baguio.
Last February I went home with two packets of the yellow Calla lily, each packet contains two tubers. I gave one packet to my Aunt, who's now helping us propagate some plants in her own garden. And I must say she is having more luck than us. Anyway... The other packet is left in the farm for my Mom. Aside from the tubers we also visited the Manila Seedling Bank and bought several Calla plants.
Seven pots of Calla lilies we bought last February the day before I flew back to the U.S.
From what I've read the white Calla lily thrives in the sun and likes having wet feet. The colored species prefer the opposite, part shady and more dry soil. So I told Mom their contrasting behaviors so she can properly take care of them.
A few weeks after I returned to the U.S., I was informed that the colored ones rotted after they were left exposed to several days of continuous rain. Sigh... The white ones survived. Just this month I learned that of the four whites, only two are still alive. Sigh again...
Now these plants aren't in the farm yet. Currently they are in our small house in one suburb of Metro Manila which is several hundreds of kilometers away from the farm. My mother goes there only when she needs to. Since she cannot bring them all to the farm by herself, with a heavy heart she had to leave them there.
If you must know about our house near the capital, most of the time the house sits empty and in a dilapidated state. The plants there rely on mother nature for nourishment or the infrequent visit of a trusted neighbor to check the place. Just recently it has been burglarized three consecutive times. So now it looks more like a prison, with high walls ringed with rows of barbed wires and bars on all the windows.
So what happened to the two packets of Calla lily I gave to Mom and my aunt?
Last month, Mom said one of the two tubers she planted started to sprout. First a leaf came out (above, left) then a flower but it's not pure yellow though (above, right). Then the other tuber sprouted, flower first and this one's yellow. Those I gave to my aunt also sprouted flowers first and both are yellow.
From these four mother plants, I hope Calla lilies will have a continued presence in the farm. Calla lilies can be propagated by dividing the tubers or by letting the flowers produce seeds. There is no guarantee that they will have the same color of flowers as the mother plant if they were grown from seeds.
A day will come when I'll be moving to the farm for good, if not, then more frequent and longer stays. And I will try my luck with the 'must have' plants that did not survive due to mismanagement or neglect. I hope my vision of a garden full of white and colored Calla lilies will come true someday.
13 comments:
Oh I love calla lilies and have always had them on my "someday" list. MMm I have shady spot they might like... In South Africa they used to grow almost wild although the white ones were more common. In fact they were known as funeral flowers as they were often used in funeral arrangements.
In my hot humid climate they come up in spring, die down to be dormant in summer, come up again in fall and die back in cold weather. Somewhere rlong the way they bloom if they feel like it.
I wonder why I do not have any of these. They are beautiful especially when you arrange them in a collage. :)
As Africanaussie said they are also known as funeral flowers here in the country, especially the whites. In the mountains of Benguet they grow as weeds. The colored ones are very beautiful, and i once saw the violet-almost-black in garden shows in QC. Maybe they will not thrive very well in your farm where it is very hot and dry in summer. BTW, your post at the sideboard should have been Bureau of Plant Industry, not industries. Thanks.
Hi Africanaussie,
Maybe your "someday" list is your version of my "must have" list. Just as Andrea has mentioned they are also used as funeral flowers in the Philippines and altar flowers in churches and other church functions. Do try the colored ones in your shady areas.
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Hi Nell Jean,
Wow, your Calla lilies are behaving quite differently. They must like the cool months only and hide during the hot and cold months. At least you know they're alive.
I read that during the summer they lose their leaves when water becomes scarce, that may be the reason why they go dormant in your area.
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Hi One,
Why don't you have any of these indeed? See, if you have these then you'd have a well laid out collage which I'm sure will be the envy of everyone, especially Andrea... LOL.
Just don't let cute Pichu and his adorable friends munch on these plants.
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Hi Andrea,
Actually I think they will survive in our hot and dry climate. I read that they can live in a hot climate as long as they get watered regularly. I can put the white ones near the pond for easy water access. My concern is once the wet season comes. On normal years our place is intermittently wet from June up to January. And since the colored ones are more sensitive to the presence of water than the whites so that's where it gets tricky.
Thanks for the 'industries' correction although it came a little bit late since the post is already gone... LOL.
haha, i've been checking if you have a new post and found the comment referring to me, i am delighted, or maybe amused!
Do you plan to grow the white and colored ones together? Maybe you can just have them in different locations and replicating the conditions your aunt grows them in.
Hello Andrea,
Hahaha...so you read my reply to One's comment. I just thought maybe a "collage war" is as interesting as the "battle of the butterflies" :)
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Hello Bom,
I plan separate locations for the white and colored since they have different care requirements. Maybe the colored ones can be planted near the top of a slightly shaded slope so water won't collect at their roots. The white ones I plan on putting them near bodies of water (ponds or canals)
Such a beautiful plant!
hi solitude rising! thanks for visiting my blog. nice flowers by the way :)
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks for dropping by. It's one of my favorite plants.
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Hello Angel,
I enjoyed reading your blog. I hope you dont mind me dropping by from time to time.
i'm from Bacolod, Central Philippines, i have been trying my luck on the calla lilies, i started out back 2009, with two specimen of calla under the category of rehmanii, namely albo maculata and purple sensation, they grew quite well aside from being exposed to under sunlight, both of them bloomed, i try my best to suite the plants by not getting them too wet, after two years the once small bulbs i had grew almost 4 times the size...thriving very well, didn't bother to separate the bulbs yet, b'coz i like the cluster look of it when it grows, this year of 2011 i tried on the traditional calla lily, the Z.aethiopica my specimen is a crowborough type, bred actually to withstand cold temperatures, i didn't had good success on the first try as i exposed to direct sunlight, the bloom significantly was 3x smaller than originally, the leaves were lighter green in complexion, and smaller in size. when i lifted the bulbs after several months post blooming, i separated the clumps of bulb, left it to cure in the shade before storing, 2 months after i planted them again, this time 70% of mu bulbs rotted away, really disappointed me, i managed to save 3 from the total 21 bulbs, still growing outside, but this time in with partial shade and sunlight, and kept watering to a minimum to prevent rotting, and a lighter mix of soil, i do hope they'd thrive...good luck hope you'd have better luck with your calla's as well..
Hello "Anonymous". Congratulations on your success with the colored Calla lilies and I hope you succeed with the white variety.
The colored ones that we bought are all gone. Good thing they're available at the Manila Seedling Bank. I hope someday when I can fully concentrate on propagating them, I can find success like you. I really like Calla lilies.
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