With their large, elegant, flute-shaped flowers in a range of colours, Calla lilies make for a striking seasonal display. Pop yours in a bright, sheltered, draught-free spot, water it liberally while it’s growing, and it’ll take center stage among your houseplants.
Like Caladium, Calla lilies have their time to shine, in which they flower their socks off, and then they need their beauty sleep. While they’re growing it’s beneficial to give them a regular feed with liquid plant food at the same time as watering. Be mindful that most houseplant food is generally higher in nitrogen which promotes green leafy growth. Ideally you want to use a more balanced liquid fertiliser that has equal amounts of nitrogen and potash, which promotes flowering.
You will notice that your plant’s leaves start to go yellow and that the flowers fade and die back over time. This is completely normal and you’re not doing anything wrong. It’s just your lily going into what we call dormancy or a rest period. Because Calla lilies grow from tuberous underground stems called rhizomes, they use the leafy growth that they put on throughout spring and summer to absorb as much sunshine as possible, send the starchy energy they make from this down to their tubers, and then store that energy over winter, only to use it to put on new growth the following spring. Very clever really.
As your plant enters dormancy, reduce watering until stopping altogether when all of its leaves have died back. You can then pop the pot in a cool, dark place over winter. It will naturally start to put on new growth in spring, at which point you can move it into the light and start to increase your watering.
Did you know?
You get Zantedeschia that are hardy and grow outside all year round – these are known as Arum lilies, and those that are tender and wouldn’t survive a frosty British winter in the ground – these are known as Calla lilies.
