Calla Lilies" -"Arum Lilies" - notes on word usage
J.E. Shields (Mon, 19 Jun 2006 06:47:44 PDT)
I had some Zantedeschia aethiopica grown from seed collected in the Amatola
mountains of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. I left the flat
out too late one autumn, and lost them all. One should try to get stock
from varied habitats, but don't rush to expose the seedlings to cold
weather before they are mature. It is too easy to kill the small plants,
even if the mature ones are hardy.
We really ought to try to get some more of those Amatola seeds. Cameron
and Rhoda, are you still out there?
I have some seedlings, bloom size or near to, of Z. aethiopica with a pink
cast to the flowers. I can't recall where they originated, but the old
Croft Wild Bulb Nursery was also the source of these.
I've killed a lot of plants, trying to find varieties that were hardy here
in Indiana. I'm still trying.
Jim Shields
in central Indiana (USA)
At 12:41 AM 6/19/2006 -0400, you wrote:
Hmmm...all this talk about Calla Lilies makes me want to start calling them
Richardia.
Several people have mentioned lack of success growing Z. aethiopica in non
Mediterranean climates. I tried that too, unsuccessfully of course, when I
was living in Pennsylvania. I suspect that the Z. aethiopica we grow came
from the western Cape region of South Africa, and is accustomed to mild,
rainy winters.
In her invaluable book, A Field Guide to Wild Flowers of KwaZulu-Natal and
the Eastern Region, Elsa Pooley notes that Z. aethiopica grows there (a
summer rainfall region of South Africa), up to 2250 meter elevation. She
also writes, "Popular garden plant and cut-flower, tolerates snow."
Eugene Zielinski
Augusta, Georgia
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA