California Gardens - The Year Round Gardening Site

Zantedeschia aethiopica ~ Calla Lily

Zantedeschia aethiopica, the Calla Lily is almost always showing off its large white flowers near the coast so long as it gets water. In actuality the big white part is a spath and the flowers are on the yellow stalk up the middle. Given a drying out period the Calla Lily will go dormant and burst back into action when the rains show up again. Zantedeschia aethiopica will go dormant where there is hard frost and can be killed in mountain areas. Foliage is damaged with frost, bulbs are damaged if temperatures dip below 10° F for any length of time. The Calla Lily is native to South Africa. Zantedeschia aethiopica will grow in full sun at the coast and in coastal valley's but will do best with some shade in inland gardens. If planting bulbs 4" deep is good, but they are not picky. If you try to take out your Calla Lily plants there will often be lots of little bulbs left behind. It takes these little offsets a few years to get to blooming size.

Zantedeschia aethiopica, Calla Lily

Water drops on white flowers of Zantedeschia aethiopica - Calla Lily. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.

Zantedeschia aethiopica, Calla Lily

White flowers of Zantedeschia aethiopica - Calla Lily. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.