Anyone have a purple calla lily, or one called Anneke?

4paws, I didn't get any blooms on them. I bought them in May and they only put up foliage, hopefully they'll bloom this year!

It looks like Regal is not so bright as shown on Pacific

http://www.callalilyshop.pacificcallas.com/callalilyregal.htm

Good ideas, wallaby.

If they are getting stock from Holland, they might be able to special order (for the co-op) other varieties they don't ordinarily carry .

R.

Yeah, it would definitely help getting some specific questions answered and kind of set in stone from them before deciding.

If you enlarge the pics on the cnb site the descriptions are below thepic, giving how well they flower

Pretty Woman says 'good'. some say excellent

http://www.cnb.nl/zantedeschia/english/catalogue/cultivars/085.htm

http://www.cnb.nl/zantedeschia/english/catalogue/start.htm

I want purple, any purple, but truly purple. I am not so concerned with names.
Wallaby, Janet, is it usual for callas not to bloom the first year in the ground?
I've read that they bloom better if they're root bound.

That Calif Calla growers site is not very recently updated--I tried to click on several sources closer to me and they have changed websites or something. I'm thinking April is just much too late this deep in the south to plant. Of course, you can't plant much of anything after May here until Oct--lol

Perhaps you could have two co-ops dmj, see what the demand is then decide.

4paws, I have found many plants in the ground don't get the necessary food and water requirements they would in a pot, some bulbs/corms need good care to flower and this includes good food. I like to start off in pots with anything that is iffy in the ground, then try in the ground with lots of good compost put in the hole. A little added organic food should help, perhaps a rose food. Some just have much richer soils, mine is not so rich and is sandy so may be good if I enrich it as the drainage should be good.

Stellapathic traded her white callas with me. She keeps hers in a pot and give them coffee grounds everyday. I'm doing the same. I have some concerns about invasiveness (not regarding my garden, but the greater environment) here, so all will go in pots. Then they can also move with me, if I move.

Wallaby--I can't host Co-op's I'm a vendor....I'm just looking for some landscape plants for the front because I have 2 huge oak trees and lots of shade. I have some crinums and crinodonna's and other real small bulbs that can tolerate shade and thought some Calla's would be nice to punch up some color. Which varieties other than black forest have the cute speckled leaves? I do have to keep the front within HOA boundaries,
Debbie

Majestic Red and Cameo both have speckled leaves, large and lush too, arrow shaped but Cameo has more speckles.

Z. albomaculata has very cute speckly leaves, perhaps not so many flowers but the leaves would be worth it alone.

Cameo's leaves get quite large and almost heart shaped.

This message was edited Jan 6, 2007 8:10 PM

Nice!

Other than B and B; that Pacific Callas is the only sites I'm seeing with much selection--and that's very limited. The Regal is only available wholesale--that's way too many Calla lilies for me. Maybe I better go back and look at B&B again. I would like some bright reds, yellow, or oranges. Pink I got too much of around here--white doesn't really grab at me either. And shorter varieties too, would be good.

This is a Cameo leaf when still young, the light shone through, they are translucent spots!

Does that plant stay short?

If there are enough people wanting one variety then 50 can easily be made up, that's why it would be a good idea to see which are the most popular.

Deb, do you mean Cameo? It gets fairly tall grown in a pot after a couple of years, but is shorter for a start.

I found a pic with both Majestic Red and Cameo, with a bath tub on legs behind. Remember the callas are in pots about a foot tall, and the pic is taken from a bank above.

Wallay - How many bulbs/tubers are in the pot? How long have them been there? It's nice a full looking.

NYVoices is querying another co-op with BB...
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682514/

Now that is a lovely shot Janet! I just love everything there but the canna's (I'm just not into canna's--lol--but even they are spectacular).

I'm thinkin' on a good red, kind of a mixed orange/yellow like mango or flame blending into a bright yellow variety (daughter likes bright colors--hates pink--trying to get her interested where perhaps she will change her major from meteorology--lol). What do you think? I liked that dark regal purple Pacific had but they want wholesale only there. If I could find a good deep purple I'd throw that in the mix too. I should add I want these plants to remain under 3' in height--

Right now it looks like I'll have to get the majestic red from B & B's--Pacific doesn't have a good red retail.

Well I'm glad I've finally settled on what to do out front--that's been bothering me for a few years now. It really looks bad, but I'm trying to disguise what I do out back. I think Calla lilies would blend in good with the beautyberries, shade tolerating crinums, x Amarcrinums, and the H. galvestonensis. And who could possibly object to calla's right? lol

I looked, 4paws, but shipping to me prices would be better if I just bought them myself. Unless my math is really failing me...and if they don't ship until April--that's just way too late for me.

With Cameo I started with one a few years ago, the parent died off and left 4 smaller ones but only one survived, it was a very cold winter. It took another couple of years to grow to flowering size, and flowered in about 2004. I potted it on to a larger pot in spring 06 and it multiplied more, I got 3 flowers this year. I expect it will do well from now.

Majestic Red I got as a small already flowered plant reduced at a garden centre. It had grown several new cormlets and they took about 2 years to mature, flowering in 2005 with 3 flowers, I potted it on to a bigger pot spring 06 and it has grown much bigger, but with only 2 flowers this time.

It can take time for some to regenerate, this is probably why it's a good idea to buy those that are grown in the ground. The Majestic Red had been potted in artificial compost which is not the best for anything. Perseverance has paid off!

Just read your post Deb, they should do very well in your climate, it was hot here this year and they loved it. I use plenty of organic compost. They are not above 3' tall, what could be more cheery than those?

Shipping costs sure to make a big difference!
Wallaby, how many callas would you put in a half-barrel?

I hear they bloom 2 years from seeds in California--you done any seeds yet Janet? I saw your seed pod pics on one of your calla (forget which one) varieties in the PlantFiles.

I'm leaning towards Pacific for most of the order and B & B for the red. I kinda got a problem with bulb brokers and prefer American on site growers--that's why I'm leaning towards Pacific. If I am going to buy brokered bulbs--and don't get me wrong, I do sometimes buy brokered bulbs. I usually will buy from Brent and Becky's.

The soil out front is the best I have 15 years of pure leaf compost--a good 12" deep. That's why I've been real torn about what to do out there. I just want to do something permanent and then LEAVE IT ALONE--lol. Which is sometimes hard for me to do....But I have so much work out back I need the front low care. But preferably beautiful. I don't ask much do I? ;)

You mean one of those huge half wine barrels?

LOTS!!!!!!!

I would place them about 6" apart for a start, to give room for offsetting.

I think they are about 24 inches across. I'd love to get my hands on one of the huge barrels, but I'd make a lily pond out of it. :-)
One like these.

Shaggy seems very happy there--so I'm sure Calla's would be too!

Well California can probably keep them growing all year, I would double that for here. I do have some of Z albomaculata with 2 seasons growth, which are getting proper leaves and making reasonable corms. I sowed some this year and have a pot full in the greenhouse, semi-dormant, I might just put them in the ground this year and hope for the best, they are quite hardy. Species do make good seed, some hybrids will make some.

Cameo made something that looked like green peas this year, so I sowed them in the propogator but they rotted. Majestic Red made a small seed head last year, which I left until June to sow, I got 2 out of 9 to grow and they are still small, one is still just green, The seed head this year was large, I leave them in the greenhouse on top of the pot to mature over winter, they have a small hard round woody looking seed. Some others I grew this year have seed, Gem Lavender made seed on every stem and it produces well, I won't know if the seed is good until I try to grow them.

I got Zantedeschia jucunda from Chiltern's and grew those this year, only got 2 but they are a species so they should grow true, they have huge gold spathes with large very spotted leaves.

Pink Pink Mist makes seed and I have some seedlings of that too.

I got a tape measure, starting 3" from the edge across the centre you could easily fit 4, make that both directions and some in between I would say 12 should fit comfortably. You could try placing markers in the pot to see how they would fit, you could put them a little closer as long as they have some space to expand.

I was thinking about 10 or 12 - great!
One barrel each - Mango and Cameo.
Thank you, wallaby! :-)

Or maybe I should mix them?

They do look good together, even though you wouldn't think they do, your choice! I think I would mix them as long as you could remember which was which when they die back, Majestic Red keeps the spathe colour to the end.

Oh, just by looking at the photos, they strike me as being very compatible.
I could plant them in pots and sink them into the barrels, too, then I can easily tell them apart and lift them if needed in the winter.

Hello,
Could I please join in on this? Never did before but willing to learn... I see a few names here that I have posted to before, I am new to DG and I am learning tons...
So if you dont mind a beginner who would love to do this ... I'm In... May need a little help in what I am doing but I love Callas :-)
Thanks,
Susan

Hi Susan,
We're not buying yet, but go check out the co-ops forum. NYVOICES is working on interest for a co-op and I've also got a calla discussion thread.

You'll get a lot of help here!

The more the merrier Susan--we should warn you though we are hopeless bulb addicts here and it appears to be catching! =)

Janet-- I saw the Z albomaculata on the Brent and Becky site. I was just thinking that would be a good pot specimen (like I need more bulbs in pots, right? I'm getting kinda low--lol). I bet it does grow quickly from seed since its a miniature, right?

This one looks quite intriguing too...
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/index.php?sku=41-0114

=)

Pretty! and fragrant...

4paws I think its a species too--not a hybrid. But I could be totally wrong here--I know little to nothing about Calla's. I really only know one local growing friend who even grows them here, she grows hers out by her pool. She always asks me to pick her up bulbs every year at the Houston Bulb Mart and I do--I just never thought about growing them myself. This thread has convinced me to go ahead and try them in the ground out front. See how we just seem to enable each other's addictions? =)

4Paws,
So does this mean I cant join in on this one? I will go and read but I kinda just thought you all say what you want and then someone buys in bulk and then divides bulbs and all the money spent and then tells us how much to send for what we ordered?
Just a little brain dead tonight... :-)
Susan

Deb, Z albomaculata does have a narrow spathe, have you looked in PF? I'm sure Al has put a pic of his in there, he grows a big circle of them and they multiply. but he lifts them for winter. This one is hardier than a lot, so you could grow it in the ground spotted amongst colours, it does grow reasonably tall. Easier than pots anyway! They should do well in all that compost you have. They would grow much more quickly in your climate from seed too.

Childsiana has a great shape, and fragrant, now I'm sure I noticed for the first time this year that albomaculata has a light scent.

Welcome Susan, and don't be shy! Do you know where to find the Co-op forums? There is a numbers limit of participants, so get yourself noted there.

Susan, go here

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/682514/