Zantedeschia albomaculata
This Calla Lily was a pass-a-long plant from my neighbor years ago. This is my original clump that I have divided several times now. It also has sporatic white blooms in the early summer. However I find the speckled foliage more interesting than the actual flowers. It is grown in a variety of conditions throughout my yard which includes full shade to part sun. Until recently I didn’t even know it’s botanical name or common name. But after doing some googling online I was able to identify it. According to the info I read it loves moist soil, but I don’t give mine any extra water during summer unless it looks a bit droopy. For the most part it seems to be quite tolerant of the dry shade areas of my garden. It combines well with other shade lovers like Hostas, Ferns and Astilbe. This clump is in my Grandma’s garden bed and she surrounds it with pink Impatiens. It gets to be about 24″ tall and can easily be divided in the fall by digging up the rhizomes. You can also let the seed heads dry & propogate it that way. Here’s some more information on this easy perennial:
- Hardy in zones 7a-11
- Sun to Partial Shade conditions
- All parts of plant are poisonous (wear gloves when handling)
- Can be invasive in some areas (it hasn’t in my zone 7b garden)
- South African native species
- Favored by the floral trade
- Makes a great cut flower
- Herbaceous perennial in my area, can be evergreen in more tropical zones
- Bloom is white, some cultivars of this species come in yellows & pinks
