Calla lilies in the water

[Shdwdrgn]

Someone here mentioned they were growing callas in their pond. I have tried, without luck, to grow them around my yard, so I figured this was worth a shot. After cleaning out the clearance isle at walmart, and placing the bulbs where they would only be about half in the water, I now have 7 bulbs which are growing stems and roots (and some already have leaves!)... not bad considering most of the bulbs were shriveled and appeared dead.

So now that I have some growing, and they are obviously doing well in the shallow water, my next question is what to do with them for the coming Winter? Since they are right at the water line, the bulbs will most likely get frozen in the ice, and I know that can kill some types of plants. Does anyone know if the bulbs will be OK if I put them deeper in the water (and if so, how deep)? Or will they be fine where they're at? I'd hate to kill them now after bringing them back from the brink of death...

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Oddly, these were sold as suitable perennials locally, but everything I'm finding online suggests that they are only hearty to zone 7, and they are very susceptible to their bulb freezing... So I had another idea, and would like opinions please? Since the ice on my pond rarely gets more than 1/2" thick, and the bulbs are supposed to be planted about 4" deep, I was wondering what would happen if I planted the bulbs in the dirt, right against the pond liner? The water temp should ensure that the immediate ground never freezes, and since my moneywort holds a LOT of moisture in the ground underneath it, that should provide ideal conditions for the callas to survive here? I think?

 

[HTH]

Nice plants.

They tolerate wet feet when growing but are not really aquatic plants. Thinking the will rot if submerged. Not sure.

I was reading that one way to keep them over winter is to dry them out and store in a cool dry place.

Another option I was thinking of was burying them below the frost line, easier to do some places then others. I moved all my lilies as bare root and buried them on this end til I had time to pot them the next spring. We moved in the fall about Halloween.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Our frost line goes way deeper than the bulbs would be buried, that's why I was thinking if I kept them against the pond liner, it would help prevent freezing. Guess I'll have to experiment with them over the next year and see if they survive. My wife loves callas, so I'm really hoping this will work.

 

[joesandy1822]

Someone here mentioned they were growing callas in their pond. I have tried, without luck, to grow them around my yard, so I figured this was worth a shot. After cleaning out the clearance isle at walmart, and placing the bulbs where they would only be about half in the water, I now have 7 bulbs which are growing stems and roots (and some already have leaves!)... not bad considering most of the bulbs were shriveled and appeared dead.

So now that I have some growing, and they are obviously doing well in the shallow water, my next question is what to do with them for the coming Winter? Since they are right at the water line, the bulbs will most likely get frozen in the ice, and I know that can kill some types of plants. Does anyone know if the bulbs will be OK if I put them deeper in the water (and if so, how deep)? Or will they be fine where they're at? I'd hate to kill them now after bringing them back from the brink of death...

I am no expert by any stretch, but I have grown callas in my garden for many years. Never in the pond though. I live in Michigan. We freeze hard. In my experience, they will NOT come back if they freeze. So after the first frost and after the leaves turn yellow, I dig the bulbs up, cut off the foliage, dry them off, and put them in a brown paper bag over winter in a cool closet. Some people put them in peat moss or sawdust. But I have never had problems just tossing them in a brown paper bag. You want them in a dry, cool place where they won't freeze. Then in Spring when there is not much chance of hard freezing, I plant them up again. I do the same thing with my cannas.

In a pond, I have no idea. You could just try treating your pond as a garden and try it this way for some of the bulbs, and try leaving one in the pond and see what happens. But I can almost guarantee if they freeze, they will die.

Hope this helps.

 

[adavisus]

Arum corms rot real easy if they have a moist dormancy.

They store reliable dry, cool, frost free

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Yeah I've moved all of my bulbs out of the water now. I put them in the dirt, right up against the outside of the liner. Since the water doesn't freeze to that depth, I'm hoping it will keep the bulbs from freezing. Guess we'll see next Spring!