New to Calla lily

Hi All,

I'm in the desert. I was given a Calla lily for a special reason and would very much like to give it the best possible chance to survive. '

So far I know they want a shady moist location. Is that correct? What about soil ph? Is that a critical factor...my soil is very alkaline.

I can find the shady moist spot but I'm worried about soil ph and how hot the temps get here. Will the lily tolerate temps in the 100's if it's in the shade. The shade will probably get to the hi 90's at least.

Hope ya'll can help

Chris

I grew them in North Texas, where the winds were over 20 mph and the temps well over 100 a lot of days, keep them wet, they love water. Mine were planted in full sun, but around a lot of other plants. I'm waiting to put the 12 that are planted in gallon pots in the house outside now. GOod luck, you will love them, and they are so easy to grow.

Here are some links
http://www.pacificcallas.com/cutflowerguidelines.htm

http://plantsdatabase.com/go/768/index.html

The like slightly acidic soil, so you may need to amend the area.

I've been growing one for a few years, and the only thing that bothered it was being too crowded in it's pot. I thought I had lost it last year, but now that I've moved it to the garden, it is doing wonderfully. It gets mid-day sun, filtered morning sun and afternoon shade. It seems to take the heat very well, but we've got lots of humidity. That might make a difference.

Best of luck!

Cheri'

If the soil gets too warm, they may go dormant on you, but will return. The standard whites are very tough, the colored ones are a bit touchier and need to be quite dry when dormant.

Hi all,

Thank you sooo much for the input. I have the perfect spot for it I hope.

Take it easy

Chris

I have a dusty pink calla that was in a site in my yard with afternoon sun last year. I did amend the soil with steer manure and a little bit of peat moss. It had other plants around it and I watered it every day. It was not shaded except for a few hours in the morning. It gets well over 100 degrees here for about a month. And we only get 14 inches of rain and gusty winds up to 50 miles per hour occasionally. My lily did really well in those conditions and even produced seed pods. I dug it up just before our first heavy frost, removed all of the soil and stored the bulbs (is that what they are?) in my basement. I just repotted it a few weeks ago and set it out in an unheated greenhouse. It is coming up just fine and I plan to transplant it into the garden in April.

My plants grow well, but they won't bloom. Last year, I didn't give them any nitrogen but they still grew well and had no blooms. It's cool here; do you suppose they need more sun and perhaps a black pot to encourage them to bloom?

woodspirit1, I don't really know why your plants won't bloom, but ... are they crowded?

Mine stopped blooming, or would only make one flower a season, but the plant grew well. Then, last summer, it got ugly and I thought it would die. I was afraid to divide it, thinking I would kill it ... that was what it needed tho. Now that it's in the garden, with plenty of space, it's gorgeous. Currently, it's got six blooms, and at least that many buds. I can't believe it's the same plant ...

Just a thought ...

Cheri'

I don't think they're crowded, in fact, I repot them every spring and extras are given away or given another pot. I just don't know.....