Who has some Calla lilies to show us?

I don't know. My MIL gave me a piece of hers last fall.

It does look to be, there are cultivars which are hardier like Z. a. 'Crowborough' which I have, but it withered to nearly nothing in the ground. Perhaps you have more heat than we would normally have.

http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/image?query=%27zantedeschia+aethiopica%27

I'm in Champaign IL, Neal. The trees are a real treat. I have visited some great gardens- I'll have a Crinum picture to post that is boggling. And Musa basjoo is perfectly hardy in St. Louis.

With all of this giant white talk, (and pictures, really) I don't think I will turn down the next opportunity to get some to try again. Just gorgeous, PDoyle.
K

Cool Kenton! We'll be expecting a pictoral tour, you know :)

So, I've been wondering......with all this talk of Zantedeschia, who's going to start a co-op for them? I'll be the first in line.

Here's the center of my Mozart flower.

Dark and broody! That is a huge dark throat.

Is that another spathe, it must be an open one. You might get some seeds, try growing them and see what you get.

My Majestic Red lookalike made seed late last year, I wasn't sure if it would be mature, but I have 2 germinated so far. They may take a few years!

(Sucking in violently and avariciously) Mozart is nice, Kniffy.

Neal; Travel thread: I have a mini one started in African Violets, perhaps I will elaborate on that when I get home.
Met a DGer today in Champaign. Awesome awesome , clean-made design-basd garden. She is an artist and it shows. Classy Family. Great hardscapes.(Greenobsessed, new subscriber)

Well I was e-mailed a Calla picture, photo credits to my neighbor.
This rare instance, I can take credit for thinking up this combination design. (And I think that must be earwig or thrip damamge):

Z. 'Black Star.'

Travel thread, if you are so obscenely bored.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/628525/
At least look at the last (insert palpitation) picture.
Kenton

Glad to see you're getting your DG time fitted in K.

Looking forward to your travel pics!

Black Star is top of my list along with Picasso!

I took this yesterday on another very hot day, but we had a thunder storm today! Rain!

Janet, your tropicals look lush and beautiful!

Thanks Neal, the heat has suited them. The Hedychium I grew from seed is scorched, it made 3 tall new stems from the beginning of January and it came hot after I put it out. Too big for anywhere else!

The Z albomaculata on the east wall, just to the left of the above lot. I look out my door into the tropics.

Wow that last pic is awesome!

Thank you!

Here's another view, with Callistemon laevis

Wow wallaby1. I didn't know they would do so well in pots. Do you bring yours in for the winter?

pdoyle I do bring them into a cold greenhouse and withold water over winter, but they don't dry out completely. We had a very cold, prolonged winter, frost to -9C and I didn't lose one. If in a small pot and grown in a heavy medium they may freeze with hard frosts.

This one needs a pot on into a slightly bigger one which really should be done now so the bulbs have more room and a boost with fresh growing medium. The bulbs should increase after flowering, much like dahlias I imagine.

I use a free draining mix with gritty soil, leafy compost and peat moss. With pot culture you can control the watering and feeding with good results.

This is my first one in my garden. I was very pleased with how it looked. I don't know the name of it. I sure do appreciate all of the posts. I was wondering how to take care of it this winter.

Captain Kloon opened two blooms for me today - much to my surprise. I planted him about 7 weeks ago and was not expecting to see a flower until next year.

Tussee

MsMaati yours look a lot like Cameo but brighter. It has the same edging and shape.

You can lift them to store once they've died back, but some have success in colder areas with growing in a free draining soil and using a good thick mulch. It would be a shame to lose it, it's very pretty.

Tussee, Captain Kloom is lovely, where do you get them from? Have you found your source yet? I googled and found nothing.

They are given hormones to make them flower in their first year so there's no unhappy customers, this time of year everything is in a hurry to flower. You may find it takes a year off to recover and regrow.

Captain Kloom came from Park Seed Co. I just missed another unusual Calla from them, but they were in the midst of a huge sale and all were gone.
I have not found my mystery source yet but I continue to search my files.

Tussee

While weeding my Calla bed, I noticed a Flame flower with incredible curves. Would love to see more of these -

Tussee

Mmm. Curves.

wallaby1~

In http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2537136 the leaf just left of the lower bloom starts and upward wiggle that flows perfectly into the next higher leaf and zooms my eye up to its tip: what a trip!!!!!

knif~

Mozart's heart has mine thumping! http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2534814

Kenton~

That swarthy Black Star is just sooooo bewitching! http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2535592

tusseemussee~

Great curvalicious Flame. What great colors!

MsMaati~

Love that red blush and edging on your yellow calla. http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2543769

OMG, pdoyle! That white calla is awesome! http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2531028
Just takes your breath away!!!

Great pix, gang, keep 'em coming!

Robert.

Ooooh, tussee, the form and color are gorgeous on that one. Looks like a tropical sunset :)

Thanks everyone. I thought you might enjoy this flower as it sure bloomed to a different beat. Not only is the shape so different, the colors put the usual Flame to shame.

Tussee

Not sure if this is the best thread to ask this but here goes...I have some seed heads of an unlabeled (dark pink narrow leaved) Zantedeshia rehmannii(?). How do I know when the seeds are ready for harvesting? Are they likely to come true from seed - I have no other varietes anywhere near it?

In shade the spathe goes almost burgundy/brown but in brighter light it goes pinky...can anyone identify from this description or is that the habit for all of them to change colour intensity according to light conditions?

This is how it look when I first bought it.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Lizzy

Lizzy this is a good place! It looks like Classic Harmony, from Sande. I can't see the leaves very well on theirs but they look a little broader and with an occasional spot.

The spathes on yours look just like it, the leaves do look a little broader than Z. rehmannii but rehmannii is a good contender for the parentage, possibly with another species crossed in it. Z. rehmannii spathes are generally a little smaller, there is Z rehmannii improved also which has a larger spathe but I don't think it has the brownish outer.

You will need to advance to the right on this link

http://www.sandegroup.nl/zantcontent.html

The seed heads should be left until they die back completely. I leave mine in their seed head and they can be buried whole, this can help germination. I also leave them on top of the pot with the parent in a cold greenhouse over winter, frost doesn't damage them, the seed is hard and frost may help to stratify them, but I took Z Pink Mist off with one pod when the fruit started to go mushy and cleaned them in water. They are best sown here in June as they will germinate around July very easily.

BTW, I love a brown/pink combination!

No spots at all on mine. Looks like it could be a good web site. I wasn't able to advance to the right or left though, thanks for the info Wallaby - you're the BEST!!!

Lizzy, there are arrows at the bottom...

Yeah - I know but they weren't doing anything when I tried them.. Maybe my browser setttings...

Mmmm. Brown like a strong cup of black tea.

Remeber that 'Black Star' (I almost grow mothing else, it seems, eh?) that had soft-rot some time back? I treated it then and now, I came back from this roadtrip and the silly plant threw out another flower! (Even with only two small leaves)

My third (and latrest-potted) one has one of those leaf-spathes. I must admit that it is nice.

Wow Kenton, thats a beauty.

Tantalising K!

Lizzy, I tried again and sometimes had to hit the square 'stop' button in the middle then the arrows. It doesn't link directly to it.

My Cameo has another spathe too.

Show us yours then Janet!!!!

I finally opened that site in Internet Explorer as I had been using Firefox. Managed to scroll through the contenders and it looks most like Allure or Aneke (unfortunately, no leaves for comparison) There are no spots on mine and the leaves are more lanceolate than most of that group.

Anyway... will the seed come true or will I get something else? Not that I worry - just nice to know when sharing seed.

Cheers my lovelies
Lizzy

Lizzy I don't have one. I couldn't find another on a google either, no results.

The seed will only come true from a true species. You may get something very similar or quite different, they will throw back different parentage. This is where they always recommend not to throw away small, or late germinated ones. It could be a gem!

Interesting - I would never have known to keep the least likely seedlings - you usually get rid of them. Why might the gems come from small or late germinated ones?

Some species are naturally smaller, and there could be one in the cross that gives an interesting new hybrid. Generally when a hybrid cross is selected there is more than one to choose from. They just select the ones with the best qualities and the most marketable, that not only meaning the best flowers. Some bulbs don't go dormant so easily, and as the market needs to be able to sell dormant bulbs some of the gems get bypassed.

Later germinating ones are natures way of making sure it reproduces, it doesn't mean it's weak. If they all germinated at once and something happened to them, e.g. an animal dug them all up, it would die out, so nature's species can germinate over a lengthy period, sometimes over years.

Hybrid's are bred for evenness of germination so seeds can be grown out in a season and keep everyone happy.

Once again Janet you have given generously of your knowledge. Thank you so much for all the help. I'm going to do what you say and plant the whole seed head and see what happens.

Keep us posted.

Anyone sick of my 'Black Star' pictures? I am. Unfortuantely, I think I have no more Zant coming on this year. Live and learn, eh. All the more reason to keep on postin gto this thread is you still have late-bloomers.

Mind you, we will probably be posting seedhead, bulb, and seedling pictures when the flowers are gone!
K