CALLA LILY BULB IS A TREAT FOR YOUR GARDEN

The white calla lily bulb has become quite popular for the bride's wedding bouquet in the last few years. They are also a great plant for cuttings and used as a centerpiece for a formal dining experience. This does not mean they can not be used just as an ordinary cut flower around the house. Here we have a colored calla lily which is a good alternative to growing the white ones in your garden.

You could mix and match and definitely make a statement in the garden using contrasting colors. Now available are many different colors including gold,pink,and majestic red. It would be interesting to experiment with all of these colors to give your landscape a new and beautiful look.

CALLA LILY PLANTING AND CARE

The calla lily bulb needs to be planted in a rich soil using one-third rotten manure loamy soil and possibly a little sand mixed in for balance. The pH should come in around 6.6. A great deal of sunlight is important as well as a substantial amount of water.

You may not be aware of this but the calla lily bulb,as well as a canna,can be planted in and around a shallow pond. Initially the lily should be treated to a great degree of moisture in order to produce large healthy flowers.If you plant them as I have suggested,you will have very little weed control problem. However,if you plant them in the garden you will have to watch the weeds for the first few weeks. When the cally lily bulbs are in full swing the heavy foliage will assist in the reduction of weed control.

The tendency is to allow the foliage to wilt and go away after the blooming season which,can last up to six or eight weeks,is great. The normal lily family foliage usually becomes a heap of dry brown ugly grass. The picture at right I am sure does not really do the cally lily bulbs justice but note the beautiful spotted white dotted green leaves. If you continue to water,you will have this attractive plant all the way to frost. It really adds to your gardening experience and it is something you do not have to look at while waiting for the foliage to die away. This pictured here had white calla lily blooms.

The insect attack for the calla lily bulb is similar to the glads See insect page for control of thrips and aphids and results in an increase in disease stress with the presence of thrips and aphids. There are also various fungal pathogens which attack the root area and this can be detected with a visual inspection of the plant. The symptoms are wilting and yellowing accompanied by the presence of rolled up foliage which will result in the leave dropping over at the base of the stem.You should consult your nursery guy for help on what to spray to prevent this from occurring. This problem has not happened with the calla lily bulbs in a planter.

CALLA LILY BULBS DIGGING UP AND STORAGE

This is where I fell out with planting them in the ground. They are among the most difficult bulbs to dig out of the garden. If you have treated your plants to good fertilizer and water,the bulbs probably sunk deeper then orginally planted. The digging can be done as long as you stay at least six to eight inches away from the center of the plant and dig in a circular motion and lift the soil and plant from the garden. The calla lily should not be removed until after the first frost except in Zones 9-10 where they can remain in the garden. The careful digging is why I have opted for the container approach with the same beautiful results as in the garden.

After the bulbs are removed from the soil,you should carefully wash them to remove the soil.The worst thing you could do here is to leave soil residue on your bulb. You may even want to dip them in some type of fungicide mixture for maybe five to ten minutes. Then have your cally lily bulbs dry for aprroximately four to six hours. It would be helpful to have a fan to assist in the drying procedure. I still like my method of storage in peat moss with newspaper lining the bottom and newspaper seperating rows of bulbs.Apply more peat moss on the next layer of bulbs until they are completely covered after the newspaper has been applied to the previous layer of peat moss.The rows of bulbs should not be allowed to touch by spacing them at least two inches apart.They should be stored in a cool and dry place with temperatures betwwen 45-50 degrees F if possible.

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