Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Zantedeschia
Check out these two beautiful black Calla Lily (Zantedeschia) blooms. Can you guess the names of each species?
Trick question! They’re the same species. In fact, they’re on the same plant.
I got this Calla Lily from Sloat a month ago. It was unlabeled, but I believe it’s Zantedeschia ‘Black Star’.
Plants always make a transition when they go from a comfortable nursery to your house, but I’ve never seen a change this extreme. The three blooms that were on the plant when I bought it were perfect circles, the ones that have come up since are like wavy clamshells. When I bought it, the leaves were small, on short stems below the blooms. The leaves that have come up since are twice the size, on stems twice as long.
I haven’t been doing anything freaky with the plant, I swear. Just bright, indirect light and weekly watering. I use a little fertilizer with each watering, but not the magic potion the growth spike would imply. He’s still in the same pot, with the same soil, as when I bought him.
Note, I’m not complaining. As the song says, I like big plants and I cannot lie. I’m always happy to see a plant thrive. But the stark difference in the growth before and after he came home has me stumped.
Does anyone have any idea what’s going on here?
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Update: The likely explanation is a dwarfing chemical used by the nursery wearing off.
See Also
A Hole in My Park
At some point in the last day or two, the clump of lilies disappeared, leaving only this hole in its place.
Explosion in a Perfume Factory
Dude smells like an explosion in a perfume factory, especially at night.
First Bloom: Cirrhopetalum pulchellum
The whole spread is about an inch across.
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