Re: [SG] calla lilies
>At 01:14 PM 6/17/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Bill, Does it depend on the type of calla lily? I am not an expert on them,
>but the ones I grow are in a heavy clay soil that has horrible drainage.
>With record rain falls this year (by March we had exceeded our average
>yearly total) the callas didn't miss a beat. I haven't really researched
>callas but I assumed they could take wet soils. Mainly I assumed this
>because they grow in a friends yard that becomes a lake every winter. These
>are the big callas with the white flowers. They are hand me down plants so
>I can't even tell you which ones they are.
There are actually two kinds of callas. The genus Calla in the botanical
sense is now limited to Calla aethiopica, which is the big white calla.
This is in fact a plant that thrives under marshy, poorly drained
conditions. But other callas are in the genus Zantedeschia (the yellow and
pink callas and the hybrids) and while they like moisture, they must have
good drainage. The yellow calla likes plenty of sun; the others (mostly
pink and lavender) like a little shade where it's hot.
Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>
