Find Your Ask the Expert: Cally Lilly Blooms
We have a Cally Lilly plant in our garden ( live in Northern Virginia) it’s growing great however no flowers. What’s the secret to get it to flower. it’s in full sun and is watered regularly.
thanks
George
Why Won’t My Calla Lily Bloom?
June 11, 2008 by
George,
There are a few things that can inhibit blooming.
1. Fertilizer or nourishment. You need to fertilize (using a balanced fertilizer) your calla lilies as they start to emerge each year. But something that most people forget is that the bulb will store nourishment during the growing season for the next year. This nourishment is created by the leaves and stored in the bulbs. So it is important to leave the foliage alone until it turns completely yellow or dies from the cold. Removing the foliage prematurely can cause a nourishment deficiency in Calla lily bulb and can result in poor foliage or the lack of blooms the next year.
2. Improper watering can also cause problems for the calla lily. Without the proper amount of water the Calla lily could have trouble producing a bloom. Calla lilies like moist but not soggy soil.
3. Heavy clay soils can be a problem for calla lilies due to the drainage issues associated with clay. But more importantly is the depth in which the Calla lily bulbs are planted. Calla lilies should only be planted about 2″ deep. If they are planted too deep this could cause blooming problems.
Is this the first year for the calla lily? If it is, there could be a couple possibilities as to why it isn’t blooming. If it was potted and from a greenhouse it could have been forced to bloom early . If it bloomed before you bought it, you won’t see blooms again until next year. The first year I plant new Calla lily bulbs it seems to take longer for them to bloom. My older calla lilies usually bloom a couple weeks before the new ones. So it make take a little longer for them to bloom.
In fact I usually beautiful foliage way before I get blooms.
Just a little side bar. Calla lilies are not actually a lily. It belongs to the Araceae family under the genus Zantedeschia. It makes a wonderful garden plant as well as a wonderful cut flower.
The flower meaning for Calla Lily is Beauty. It is use as both accent flowers and focal flowers in flower arrangements. Calla lily flower arrangements make wonderful Father’s Day gifts.
Calla Lily Bloom Image
Attached Image: callalg.jpg
I have a Calla Lily that was a potted gift last year. After it was done blooming I took it out of the soil and put in a brown bag in a cool place. This last March I replanted it in a pot since we live in Michigan and they can’t live through the winter outdoors. It is growing beautiful foliage, but it is now August and it hasn’t bloomed. I fertilize about once a month.
I purchased what appeared to be a gorgeous canna lily from QVC several years ago– I planted the bulb indoors due to extreme Wi winters. The foliage is a beautiful green however I have never had any flowering activity– it has produced new bulbs that I have split so I know it’s in good health– what am I doing wrong?
Sue,
If you are keeping the plant in the house all of the time the bulbs are not receiving the right amount of light. Cannas need a minimum of 6 hours sun a day during the growing season. Without the right amount of light the plants will grow beautiful foliage just no blooms.
I have three Calla Lilies planted in a row. The one in the middle has not bloomed since I planted it in the garden two years ago. The ones on either side are blooming beautifully. I live in Zone 7 and do not dig up my Calla Lilies for the winter. Why is the middle on not blooming?
Joe,
To create a full, lush stand of Calla Lilies without overcrowding the plants, space them 12 to 18 inches apart in garden beds, ponds and planters. Calla lilies grow in full sun to part shade and require consistently damp or wet soil. This might be why your middle plant isn’t blooming. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the reply. They get plenty of water however they may be to close together. I will move the middle one later this fall after the foliage is gone.
This is so strange, I had to read Joe’s message twice because it sounded as if I wrote it. I have the same problem. Middle lilly has not bloomed, great foliage. But, mine are planted almost 2′ apart, get great sun, good soil, good drainage. I was wondering if it has to do with depth of planting. That’s the only other variable I can think of.
Sheryl,
How interesting. Calla lilies should be planted rather deep, about 4-6 inches for the best results. If this the first year for the calla lily there could be a couple possibilities as to why it isn’t blooming. If it was potted and from a greenhouse it could have been forced to bloom early . If it bloomed before you bought it, you won’t see blooms again until next year. The first year I plant new Calla lily bulbs it seems to take longer for them to bloom. My older calla lilies usually bloom a couple weeks before the new ones. So it make take a little longer for them to bloom. In fact I usually see beautiful foliage way before I get blooms. It sounds like you are taking good care of your plants. Hope this helps.
No, actually it’s the 2nd year in a row that the middle lilly has not bloomed. And you would think that I would have planted them all at the same depth. These are lilies I ordered from Breck’s. Well, I think I plan to dig them up in the Fall and will see how far I actually did plant them. I may replant them somewhere. We’ll see what they do next year. Thanks for your reply.
My middle calla lily finally put on one bloom and now a second one has opened up. I plan on digging it up this fall and letting it rest and replant it in the spring.
Joe,
That’s great! I’m glad you are seeing some blooms. That sounds like a good plan.
Last year I bought about a dozen calla lily bulbs. Planted them in pots and they bloomed beautifully. This year my husband planted them in the flower garden. Two bloomed the rest have beautiful foliage. What kind of fertilizer do they need?
Barbara,
In your flower garden general purpose fertilizers that contain equal amounts of all the major nutrients will work for calla lilies. These are called complete fertilizers and will be labeled with a ratio such as 10-10-10 or 8-8-8. Hope this helps.
I brought a pot of beautiful Calla Lily last year with over 25 blooms over the summer last year, since I ma in zone 5, I took the pot inside and find that there is two huge tuber/rhizome (size of id size plate) in the pot, so I put one in one pot and one into another pot of dried houseplant soil, and put them into the basement overwinter. Spring time came this year, it started having shots coming out, I put both of them out on the patio, lots of sun, water them well, lots of leaves, but not a single bloom, so disappointed, can someone be kind enough to help me with what I should do with them this year, i just took them back in a week ago when the weather is cold and the leaves are withering. Your advise will be much appreciated
Faith,
One factor that could be inhibiting blooms is the amount of sunlight the plants are receiving. Calla lilies need at least 5 to 6 hours of direct sunlight or 10 hours of bright filtered light to bloom. If your plants are in a very shady spot you need to move them to a sunnier area. You might try fertilizing your calla lilies with a fertilizer high in phosphorous (p) the a couple of months before they bloom. Try hi-yield bulb food which has a 7-8-5 (n-p-k) ratio or bone meal (0-10-0). At the end of the season let the frost kill the foliage before you remove it. Hopefully these suggestions will help and you’ll have lots of blooms this season.
Hi… I live in tropical area.. zone 11 or 12.. it is constantly hot in days and humid… i’ve bought a bulb of calla.. any tips for me to make them great.. ???thank you!! (Im starting to think of giving them soil chunks of big ice cube everyday… hehe)
Witra,
It would help to know what type of calla you have. Here is an article though that I use as a reference. It will give you information on when to plant, how deep to plant and general planting instructions. Hope this helps. Lily Care
My pillow talk Lilly has come up and more beautiful each year. It always comes in before my yellow lilies. But my yellow ones are coming up but no sign of my beautiful pillow talk lillies. Any ideas why or what happened to my lillies?
Hi Terri,
There are different reasons why you lilies aren’t blooming. Most lilies will bloom during the summer or in the fall so it may be a little soon for them to bloom. There are also reasons that deal with whether or not they are planted in the garden or in a pot. If your lilies are planted in a pot then they are going to experience more problems then those that are planted in the garden. If they are planted in the garden, some of the problems they will face are going to be too much nitrogen from the fertilizer you use, too much water, or too much sun. However, if they are planted in a pot then what might be the issue is that they have not had a chance to rest. So you might want to give them a chance to stop blooming, and give them a resting period.
Hi. Have grown calillies for years. This year they are blossoming early and hardly any foliage. Have a pink one in blossom but plant has three leaves and only 8″ tall. What’s up with this?
Hi Cathy,
You might try fertilizing your lilies.
I have a call a Lily in a container. I bought it this year. I am in zone 7 and it gets 7 or so hours of sun everyday. The leaves look great, and the plant Haas had 3 blooms on it for weeks, but the blooms have stayed curled up and won’t open. What can be wrong?
Thank you.
Hi Eva,
There could be a couple of things keeping your calla lily from blooming. If it is the first year for your lily, this could be keeping it from blooming. If it was forced to bloom by wherever you purchased it, it probably won’t bloom until next year. Too much or too little water can keep it from blooming, as well as a lack of nutrients. Make sure you are watering properly and try giving your calla some fertilizer.
I have a Calla Lily I planted this spring bought it from Lowes it was beautiful several yellow blooms on it. I planted it outside still looks beautiful green foliage but all it has done is gotten what I thought was going to be a bloom but instead it is pods full of what appears to be seeds. It has 4 of these pods and they are just full of little round green balls that look like seeds. Never has bloomed since I planted it. What is this ? And what do I do to get it to bloom? I live in zone 5 Illinois
Hi Karen,
The pods you are seeing are seed pods. It is normal for these to show up after a Calla has bloomed. You can wait until these have matured and harvest the seeds and attempt to grow new plants. Your plant most likely will not bloom again for this season. It was likely forced to bloom early, and it may come back next year. Calla lilies are tropical plants so they like a warm, humid environment. Since you are in zone 5, you may want to look into bringing your plant indoors over the winter.
Hello – I had a cluster of calla lilies in my garden that have sprouted, grown, and bloomed for 3 years now. This year – nothing. My lilies in the front yard bed have already gotten their leaves and the bud is just starting to form. Nothing in the backyard, where I had such a lush group of so many beautiful colors. Pink, white, black, picasso, purple, cream – gorgeous year after year. Not a single one. I’m in zone 7.
Any thoughts?
MacKenzie,
It’s possible that your Callas have spread over the years and are now too crowded. You might try thinning them out a bit and seeing if this helps.
I live in zone 4B and have had no problems with my Calla Lillies. Some people say they should be only planted 2″ deep. I plant mine at least 6″ deep because I find during heavy rainstorms they tend to flop over if planted too shallow. I get lots of blooms and the bulbs multiply abundantly. I give about 25% away every year. In the fall when I dig them up I let the leaves die off before removing from bulb. I overwinter the bulbs in my root cellar. It should be cool, dry and dark.
I have had a calla Lilly plant for about 10 years. it has always flowered well. last winter we cut it right back. the plant has grown back but we have no flowers. the summer was very dry but we did water often. will it flower again
Hi Judith,
It might flower again. You may need to give it some time to get through the shock of the cut.
I’ve had a large Calla Lily patch for 14 years they are native to where I live so I don’t do anything for it. Last year it bloomed as per usual. When the leaves died I cut them back b/c they were in the way of the dhalias that have been there for about 5 years but this was the first year I cut the leaves back. This year all of the flowers have half way opened and died with browning/yellowing on the edges as they were opening. The leaves are also yellowish and slightly curled. It has been wetter than usual this winter but as I drive around no one else is experiencing this. What gives? Thanks for your insight!
Hello,
I planted a started of a calla lilly almost 8 years ago. It gives beautiful greenery every year but never a flower. What could be the cause of this?
Thank you Cindy.
Cindy,
There are a few reasons your calla lily may not be blooming. There may be too much nitrogen in the soil, which would prevent blooming. Calla lilies also need plenty of sunlight and water, so make sure you’re watering regularly and they are in an area that receives at least 5-6 hours of sunlight per day!
Beth,
Since you’ve had a wet winter, your calla lilies may be experiencing root rot from sitting in puddles of water. Too much moisture will cause the roots to begin rotting and will wither the plant’s leaves. Wind can also cause calla lily leaves to yellow, so make sure it’s in a protected, but still sunny spot.
I got a basket of Calla Lilies from a friend for my Mother’s wake. The flowers hzve died now. I assume they won’t blosdom again till next year. I live in Ohio so I probably nee
d to put them in the basement in a dark place until next spring? Should i remove the leaves so I just keep the bulbs or will they bloom again this year?
My lily plant is in a warm sunny spot and doing really well, lots of growth and flowers but the flowers aren’t blooming??? Have tried watering lots then not so much, don’t know what else to do! It was a present a few months ago and planted in a large pot????
Since they seem to be receiving plenty of sun and water, it may be the soil. Sometimes calla lilies may not bloom due to too much nitrogen in the soil. Too much nitrogen encourages the foliage to grow but prevents the plant from blooming. Switch to a fertilizer higher in phosphorus than nitrogen.
My calla lilies did not do well this year-the leaves turned yellow and mushy, had very few blooms and fell over. I think they are too crowded and wet where they are, so I dug them up, cut off the leaves and am re-planting them in a better location in the back yard. Do I need to store them and let them dry out before re-planting them? or can I just put them back into the ground in their new location? How much of the remaining stem should be covered/how deep should the top of the ‘bulb’ be under the soil so the plants do not fall over when they are fully grown?
(I live in Northern California so they typically bloom year round).
Thank you!
Kimberley,
It won’t be necessary to store them before replanting. You’ll want to put your bulbs in a hole 4-6″ deep, ensuring that the top of the bulb is about 3″ beneath the soil.
Hi Cathy,
To store the calla lilies until you want to plant them next year, you’ll want to cut the foliage off of the top, leaving about 2-3 inches of the dead leaves. Dry them in a warm place for 4-7 days before storing. This will help them survive the winter.
I have a potted calla lily with two flowers. The blooms were nice and yellow for two months, but have now turned green and died. I just recently cut off the dying blooms. The leaves are all still very vibrant and healthy looking. Should i keep watering it or is it done until the spring? Do i take the pot inside or do i have to take the bulbs out of the pot? This is my first calla lily.
A calla lily generally blooms between spring and early fall. The blooming period depends on the temperature, the amount of light, and variety. It might be done until spring, and if so, you’ll want to hold back on the watering and put it somewhere cool (not cold) and dark.