Show me your Zantedeschias!

I've always loved the Calla lily, and got round to planting one a couple of years ago. It's done really well but it doesn't get very big. I've seen others in my area that are 4 to 5 foot tall. Are there particular conditions they need to get this big?

 

Mine is several years old and doesn't get big as it's a mini-dwarf variety and dies off every winter here so can't help you there. The wild ones here grow about a meter tall.

 

A few taxonomy related points to make.. the first is the picture posted in regard to the original plant shows an Arum Lily (Zathedeschia aethiopica), the plant referred to as Calla Lily is Victoria's photo (Zantedeschia rehmanii)

Arum Lilies grow big, I have put a picture below showing it is around 6 feet tall.. the only requirement to get plants this big is light frosts in winter, and humidity all year around - you might think that's logical to the point of state the obvious.. however when you look at the growth cycle of Zanteschia aethiopica, things get a little bit interesting. In its native South Africa, this plant endures a wet season, and a dry season, so therefore in much of its range is it seasonally deciduous/herbaceous. Therefore in these seasonally dictated areas, Arum lilies will never grow that big. However in the small but hard to find areas where they grow in water, or humid places that get adequate rainfall all year round.. they will stay evergreen and get big. What we see in the UK, where climate allows, is Zantdeschia getting huge because of adequate rainfall all year around.. interestingly that means this plant grows better here than it does in some of native range.

My Plant:

 

Interesting Ste, the wild one is all over the place here at the mo. Will catch up with you soon my Sweets. xx

 

Is your wild one, the one above Victoria? I find this one is fast turning into a weed here, it pops up everywhere.. really.. maybe it's the mild winter were having recently, but it's definitely invading places.

Look forward to catching up

 

Yes, it has become terribly invasive here too.

Are you still on Skype?

 

I have both.
The arum lily hitchhiked across in a pot containing a hydrangea when I moved last year It's been blooming for the past week or two.
My calla lily was bought to be a yellow one, but is actually a purple one (still hasn't grown much this year - yet)

 

I used to grow Z. aethiopica as a marginal in my pond, it got fairly big, but never as big as some I have seen.
I seem to remember a variety called "crowborough" which was said to grow exceptionally big.

 

Mine

 

I thought Calla Lily applied to the whole Zantedeshia Group... Indeed the first species on Google is aethiopica....

The plant in Victoria's picture isn't Z rehmanii ( which has narrow spear shaped plain green leaves and dull pink flowers), it is a hybrid, possibly 'picasso'.


Ref the size, I did wonder if it was s climate thing, but there are plenty of huge plants in the local area that are planted out permanently and are exposed to the same conditions as mine. I suspect that it either comes down to genetics or growing conditions.

I have just ordered myself a Z Hercules, be interesting to see how this compares [emoji1]

 

Apparently not, as the two species are distinctly different from each other.. though I don't see how it would hurt to broadly bring them together under the term Calla Lily.

It may well be a hybrid, actually.. maybe ellotiana x maculata? yes I notice the markings now you're right, it looks like a Hybrid.

Zantedeschia hercules will be extremely large.

 

Here's mine Coolsox - Zantedeschia elliottiana


It's one of the smaller ones so I grow it in a pot and allow it to die back over the winter. Seed grown it was just the two plants that I potted up and it is multiplying freely.