Calla Lilly
By Ms Sherry
Published: June 19, 2009
Yesterday a group of Master Gardeners joined me at my house for a garden stroll. As we turned a corner we discovered that the calla lily was blooming. Since I have only one, I call it my “Phyllis” calla as it was given to me by a very good friend when she moved away. It is funny how a plant takes on the name of the person who made you a present of it. This very beautiful gift, one of my true treasures, is blooming for the third year. The first year, the bloom ended up as a snack for a deer; thus I now spray the bloom with smelly deer repellant in hopes that I might enjoy its splendor for days to come. I am not sure which cultivar of calla this is, but a calla lily is also known as a Zantedeschia. This calla is a perennial, as it disappears over the winter only to return in the spring. According to THE SOUTHERN LIVING GARDEN BOOK “the flower bracts are called spathes, and they surround a central spike or spadix that actually has the tiny true flowers.” The spathe is cream color and the base of the spathe is a deep wine color. It does not appear to be the common calla as the leaves of the common calla are unspotted and these, as you might see from the photograph, are spotted with white. In its three years in my garden it has yet to form a clump which is its normal growth habit. But I am most grateful for this single magnificent flower. It is planted in part sun but the sun is from 12 until 3pm, the hottest part of the day, so this calla could probably handle full sun. It is in a location that gets plenty of water. My Master Gardener friends remarked that white callas seemed to come back the best, but one of the group said she had good luck with a pink one.
When a gardener gives a gift of a plant to another gardener, garden etiquette says that we should never say thank you. But we are all thankful for our friends who share their bounty with us, because with that gift they share themselves. If you have something extra that has brought you pleasure, think of a friend who would treasure that plant as much as you: that plant then becomes a growing living reminder of your friendship.
