colored calla lily in pots in sunshine

I had purchased some cala lillies of the hybrid colored variety and I had them in mostly shade, but they seems to go mostly to leaves and be very shy on blooms. I tried to remove them and it was very difficult they kept coming back. I finally got rid of them and I decided I would try them in pots. I was very impressed by some cut pink ones at a florist, which were pink with red tones. They were the most beautiful I had even seen. But, of course, I will never be able to figure out what they are. Cala lillies are often sold in gorceries stores and such and don't have the name tags or have incorrect ones. The only way is to get them from some place like Brent and Becky's, so you can be sure of what they are. I took a new photo of some today, but of course, with no idea of what kind, I can't put it in the database. Since I gave up my dsl, I can't do as many photos, but I am still taking a lot of them. The nurseries don't mind as long as I buying, I guess, they never told me to stop, and it is best place to photography plants were you know what they are. I bought a beautiful begonia and a large fern today.

How well do they do it pots? I assume they like to be root bound like kaffir lillies and also I am going to put them in the sun, san francisco sun is very mild. The key is to get them blooming and not going to all leaves. Any suggestions or ideas?

I have never had luck with calla lilies either bug_girl. I just love them also.

Too bad about your DSL. I could not give up mine now........ I would be crushed! I have been going around
the neighborhood taking tons of pictures. Don't you love this season, so many things coming out and putting on a show.

What kind of fern and begonia did you get? Which nursery?

This is a photo of the fern and it is a orange begonia, which I got both in Half Moon Bay and I also saw some cala lilies, but almost nothing at Half Moon Bay is labeled. Don't forget the big garden show at the cow palace is this week, Wed. to Sunday.

It is terrible not to have the DSL, but when you change you have to wait for them to clear the line, which takes forever, then I decided I could live without since we got a tivo.

My Cosmos are the most sucessful seedling in fact, I am feeling guilty because I have so many healthy seedlings and no space for them.

I just love that big nursery in Half Moon Bay....the one on the right as you drive down to the ocean?

Your fern looks so nice, is it the kind that grow big? I do not know if I will go to the Cow Palace. Last time I went it was too crowded for me.

Yes, that is the one, it is on the right almost at the ocean but up a little way. I got my big brug there years ago. This is a medium fern, I have also the big australian one.

From their huge orange on in the back in the corner? I really wish it had survived that terrible frost we had a few years ago. That was so huge, so tall! I used to visit it every year and was so sad when it had died. I think it was a real rarity at such a size. I am surprised they do not plant another, everyone loved it so much. So many blooms also...........amazing. I wish I could go back in time and get a few pictures of it.

They had a bunch just growing around and one day they potted them up and sold them. I don't remember the really big one, mine is like this.

so pretty...is it a Charles Grimaldi?

I have no idea, it was just one of those they had sitting around in pots on the out boundries. It is very tough, I think.

I had a hard time finding any brugs at all, most places don't sell them. Now I have two better ones, but they are too small to bloom. If I knew what my plants were I would put then in the database but most of them I don't know, pity.

the Golden nursery in San Mateo on 2nd had about 5 different kinds last year. And Roger Reynolds in Menlo Park had some also, as well as Wegmans in Redwood City. Berkeley Horticultural had a bunch also. I find more and more each year have them. They seem to be getning more popular.

This about about six or seven years ago, and you could not find any to save your life back then. I know east bay nursery also had some but they were mislabeled, one was marked pink and it had a white flower, another problem is the small ones don't bloom and the big ones are expensive. I like those orange yellow ones, I think I was hoping for that, but this one is yellow, very common.

I saw a picture of bright red ones, I wish I could get them to grow well. What is the scoop on these beauties? Do they want bright sun and well drained soil? Do they do in pots?

I think I may have seen red brug once, maybe on the web, but wow never in person. Brug is like a weed, it grows really well, I think it does well in sandy soil and people say it works in pots also. Brug is the easiest plant I have ever grown. But, I would assume the more exotic hybrid ones, ie red would be more flussy.

If you go with the white one or the yellow one, that are really common, it would be easy, I think, but if you have clay, that mine be a problem, I would try a pot, I got one at the plant swap, that you did not go to, if they have it again, someone had a bunch of them to give away. So I now have two small ones and one big yellow one, I can try to root you a cutting of the yellow one if you want.

I was actually asking about calla lilies in colors Bug_Girl? Sorry I jumped in where I shouldn't have?

Oh, sorry, I was not sure, but I just saw those in one of those catologes like Dutch Gardens, great big red ones. But, I still like the pink ones best, so that is what I looking for when I go to the garden show.

I got confused and I thought you were still Kel, when I mentioned the plant swap.

Hi Lenjo.......I do not know....I kill them myself!

Bug_girl......... A Peaches and Cream would grow great in San Francisco. They like it cooler. Want a cutting.......I would have to root it and you would have to remind me for I am a terrible procrastinator..........but I have tons of suckers that I can root. It grows very tall and is more upright than sprawley like the others. I just love its looks. It has the most beautiful leaves and pretty peachey blooms.

While you are at it, Kell, you wanna root two, I know I owe you a dahlia (if you can figure which one) and I believe a rose too.

Are those varigated leaves? Really pretty, yes, I have heard of that one, I have two babies now, one is frosty pink and one is something pink or peach, but I forget what it was, I could take another baby the problem is when they grow up, I don't have any space for them. Overview of garden. That is pretty much as big as it gets, you can see the angles trumpet is the largest thing there now. There is a little more space in back out of range and a deck.

LOL Bug_girl....you have plenty of room.........I see grass and I see dirt.............. something you can't see in my yard.......LOL. How about in front of your ?worm bin?. This one can grow very tall and if you cut off all side suckers you can get a single trunk tree instead of the wider multi trunk like the one you have there. which by the way must be stunning when in full flower. I just love your warm, furry dog!

Interesting enough mine does not have any side suckers, it never did have them, just does not grown them. We have no front yard space, just a planter box. For a while I tired taking on the part of the lawn, and planting things, but they keep getting walked on my dogs and run over by the hose, so I have just lawn in the center and plants on all the sides area. I don't have a worm bin, those are just composters. I hope you can come by sometime and see it!

I went to the garden show and I found a dealer from which I was able to buy a number of different hybrids. I got five tubers in a bag, but when I open it up, two were rotten, but the other I planted. I won't know which ones they are until they bloom.

I also bought a Pink Mist, in a one gallon pot, which is not a dward like the others, but grows as big as a full size Calla. I posted the photos of it, in the Plant Data Base.

Containers give me the freedome to move them around based on weather conditions or use them as deck accents. I am hoping when they bloom, I can id them from the list of the ones that are possible. In other words I have a list of the five tuber's names, when they bloom I can id them from thier color.

When I was in San Jose I grew the hybrid calla lillies in pots and in full sun. The only problem is they musr be watered often in the heat and will die back too early if let dry out too soon and not get a chance to develope properly for the next season. I eventually figured out that they did best in morning sun and afternoon dappled shade for me. Being closer to the coast you should be able to do quite well with them in full sun.

Yes, I tend to over water so, I will probably be alright.
I am worried, I planted them upside down, the smooth side goes down right?

Kell, I went on Sunday morning and it was not crowded at all, not like Saturday which was a nightmare. I think if you go on a week day if you are free, it would probably be almost empty.

This message was edited Tuesday, Mar 25th 9:33 AM

Here is a photo of the show, there are people at but you can move around.

I would have wanted to lay down in that chaise lounge! LOL

A friend gave me a tip, last year she went Saturday night and the crowds were much less. So this year we arrived at 6p (show closes at 8p) and got through the whole thing nicely. There were people, but relatively few compared to the daytime crowds so it was no trouble to see everything. The marketplaces were almost empty, it was way too tempting!!

The other thing is that when you've only got 2 hrs, it gives you the discipline to decide, do I really want to have this plant? Do I even have ROOM for this plant??

I managed to get out of there with 6 plants, that was doing pretty well for me!

So was the show worth going to??

Yes, you should go and in fact if you go after 3pm the admission is reduced. The first time I went at 11am on Saturday which was the busy day and the busy time. I bought 3 plants and bulbs. Yes, it is too tempting to go hog wild. Just look at the dealers room!

Well, that fern I bought bit the dust. It was look sick so I dug it up and the roots were only just beginning to grow out. The fern was very seriously pot bound. This happens to me with the hydrangea macrophyalla 'berlin', that I also like to buy there at half moon bay. I buy it, it dies. Or maybe it could not take the cold wind, but the nursery person said, it was a hardy fern. If you look up on this thread, I have posted a photo of the fern before it got sick. The gaint austrailian tree fern is growing great, super great.

Bug_Girl, I had a fern that died back when I brought it home even though it was the time of year that it should have been putting out new growth. I sat the pot aside and forgot about it. When we moved I was going to toss it but DH loaded it up and it came with us. When it came off the truck I sat it next to the garage for disposal later and promptly forgot about it again. I noticed it yesterday sitting there all full of grass and weeds and hauled it to the curb but as I sat it down I noticed it is sending up new growth now. So after all this almost year of total neglect the fern is growing! We will be moving again in a week or two and I will move it with me on purpose this time. I think some of them get tempermental about light and temperature changes and take their time adapting to new locations so if you have root growth you might want to just sit it in an out of the way place and see what happens.

Actually, I put it back in the ground, but I don't think it can live. I will post a photo at some point of it now. The color is no longer healthy, that was the first sign. I have had a bird nest fern that was dead for a long time and I kept watering it. It was just not decaying but not alive either.