If you’re lucky enough to have Calla Lilies in your garden, you’re no stranger to the elegant blooms these plants display. And if you’re like most growers, once you have one or two flowers, you’ll quickly realize you want even more of them adorning your landscape. Calla Lilies are easy to grow, and with a little extra care and attention, you can maximize your blooms each season.
To keep Calla Lilies blooming, you’ll need to provide them with ideal growing conditions for as long as possible. That means a mild climate, plenty of sunshine, and moist (but well-drained) soil. Deadhead spent blooms to encourage another round of flowers and extend the blooming period.
In this article, we’ll share our tried-and-true tips to get even more blooms from your Calla Lily this year. We’ll also explain some ways you can encourage your flowers to open faster and keep blooming longer.
Calla Lily Blooming Basics
Calla Lilies are perennials, meaning they die back and go into dormancy each winter and reemerge each spring or summer with new growth and another round of dazzling blooms. The growth and flowering cycle is influenced by many factors, especially the environment.
So, what do Calla Lilies need to bloom? It’s all about the growing conditions. Sunlight, temperature and climate, water, soil conditions, and the plant’s overall health all impact when and how well your Calla Lily will bloom. Understanding how these conditions affect your Calla Lily will help ensure you give your plant the best chance of a productive blooming season.
#1 – Proper Watering Practices
Maintaining the right moisture level is essential to healthy Calla Lily blooms. These plants thrive when the soil and roots are moist but not overly saturated. Waterlogged soil can lead to root rot, which will hinder the development and growth of blossoms. On the other hand, soil that’s too dry can lead to drought stress. During those periods, the Calla Lily will focus more on survival than producing blooms.
So, balance is key when it comes to watering your Calla Lilies. Check the soil’s moisture level before watering. Do this by sticking your finger down into the soil (about an inch deep). If it feels dry to the touch, you know you need to water. If it feels moist, wait another day and check again.
Well-draining soil is also critical for healthy blooms. If the soil is constantly moist even when you’re not watering very often, the issue could be drainage.
Remember, watering deeply less often (a couple of times per week) is better than lightly watering every day. This encourages healthy root development, which will, in turn, encourage more new growth and blooms.
To learn more about the best way to water your Calla Lilies, take a look at this article, which discusses the topic in detail.
#2 – Fertilize as Needed
To get more new growth and even more blooms, you may need to add some additional nutrients to the soil. These plants rely on phosphorus for flower production, along with some other key nutrients. So, if the soil is lacking, you may not get the display you were hoping for.
Use a balanced fertilizer formulated for flowering plants. It should have a slightly higher phosphorus content, which is indicated by the middle of the three numbers in the N-P-K ratio. Remember, these stand for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (K).
A good fertilizer to use is typically a 5-10-5 or 10-20-10, depending on your soil’s conditions. Use a soil test kit to find out exactly what’s lacking so you can choose the best product for your garden.
Apply fertilizer when you start to see new foliage growing in. Only fertilize during the active growing periods and never while the plant is dormant. Keep in mind that too much fertilizer may do more harm than good. In some cases, it can cause fewer flowers than normal due to excessive foliage growth.
A natural alternative you could consider is compost or well-rotted manure. Bone meal is also high in phosphorus and may be all you need to get more blooms. Compost is a healthy addition to use all over your garden.
You can learn about how to make and use your own compost in this article.
#3 – Maximize Sunlight Exposure
Sunlight is the driving force behind a plant’s ability to grow and thrive. Calla Lilies are no exception. The amount of sunlight your Calla Lilies receive can significantly impact the blooming potential and the timing for when flowering begins.
To get the best blooms, be sure to provide your Lilies with at least six hours of bright sunlight each day. Even though Calla Lilies can grow in partial shade conditions, they will likely suffer from weaker growth and fewer blooms without plenty of sunshine.
Still, you may need to be a little more strategic with the placement, especially if you live in a very hot climate. In those cases, it may be best to ensure the area gets plenty of sunlight during the morning hours. Then, in the afternoons, when the sun is more intense, some dappled shade may be more appropriate.
It’s also a good idea to monitor the sunlight levels during different parts of the year. As the days change and nearby shrubs and trees grow, your Calla Lilies may not be getting as much sun as you thought. Sometimes, simply trimming nearby foliage and branches can help more rays get through to your Calla Lilies.
#4 – Temperature Manipulation for Faster Blooms
Sunlight, along with temperature, regulates the Calla Lilies’ growth cycle and helps them know when it’s time to grow, flower, and start dormancy. If you want to see flowers earlier in the season, it may be possible to encourage blooms using temperature.
Remember, warmer temperatures typically promote faster growth and earlier bloom development. That’s why the climate where you live plays a role in the timing of your Calla Lilies’ growth. So, if you live in a cooler area, you can encourage earlier blooms by starting your Calla Lilies indoors or in a greenhouse.
By planting your Calla Lilies in containers, you can place them in a warmer environment than what they’d experience outside. Then, once the weather warms up, you can move your plants outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.
It’s also useful to apply a layer of organic mulch around your Calla Lilies to help insulate the soil and regulate the temperature. This will keep the rhizome and root system warmer and may help encourage more growth sooner.
Keep in mind that using temperature to manipulate growth isn’t an exact science, and your results may vary depending on the conditions and the Calla Lily cultivar you plant. Still, it’s fun to experiment with planting at different times to try to get the ideal outcome you’re looking for.
#5 – Pest and Disease Prevention
Keeping your Calla Lilies happy and healthy is key to getting more blooms. One way to help ensure this is to protect your Callas from pests and diseases. By simply taking a few proactive measures, you can ensure a productive bloom season without the headache of pest damage or plant illness.
Be on the lookout for some of the most common culprits that can cause damage impacting your blooms. These pesky critters include aphids, snails, slugs, and spider mites. Diseases caused by bacteria and other pathogens or root rot can also wreak havoc on your plants.
A good tip is to do regular inspections in your garden. Take some time to look closely at the leaves (both sides), stems, and flowers. Check for discoloration, wilting, or unusual growth. Physical damage caused by chewing or eating foliage is also an indication of a pest problem.
If you notice mild infestations, use neem oil or insecticidal soap to treat the area. This will control unwanted pests without harming beneficial insects and pollinators.
Watering the ground rather than the plant’s foliage helps prevent fungal development. Also, ensuring enough airflow between plants helps reduce the risk of disease. These are simple measures that will go a long way in encouraging more blooms and healthy growth from your Calla Lilies each year.
#6 – Deadhead Spent Blossoms
Deadheading refers to the practice of removing spent or faded blooms from the plant. Deadheading Calla Lilies is beneficial in a few different ways, such as improving the plant’s overall appearance and stimulating new growth.
Deadheading helps to promote another round of blooms. When you remove spent flowers, the plant can redirect energy to produce new growth, including additional flowers. It also helps prevent seed production, which takes away resources that could be producing blooms instead.
While deadheading isn’t required, it’s an easy way to encourage more blooms from your Calla Liliy this year and keep it blooming longer.
To deadhead your Calla Lilies, simply snip off the spent blossom down to the first set of healthy leaves. Make a diagonal cut just above this leaf node. To learn more about deadheading and its benefits, take a look at our article, which covers it in more detail.
#7 – Dividing and Transplanting for Long-Term Blooms
If you want to keep the most vibrant Calla Lilies in your garden year after year, you may need to think more long-term. Eventually, your existing plants will age, and their blooming capabilities may change over time. Or, they may become overcrowded as the Calla Lily clump expands, lessening the plant’s ability to produce as many elegant flowers.
Dividing and transplanting Calla Lilies has many benefits. It revitalizes the plant and allows for new, healthy growth. You can also plant these beauties in other areas of your garden, multiplying the impact of the vibrant blossoms in your landscape.
Signs your Calla Lily may benefit from this process include overcrowding, fewer flowers, a loss of vigor, and declining foliage quality. If the plant looks “sickly” and it’s a big, crowded clump, thinning it out may help significantly. It’s a good idea to divide your Calla Lilies every three years or so.
The process of dividing Calla Lilies involves separating a mature plant into smaller ones that you can plant elsewhere. Each plant will have its own separate root system, though it will be a clone of the parent plant.
If you decide to divide and transplant, be sure to do it during the fall or winter months while the plant is dormant.
To learn how to do this in your garden, check out this guide which discusses the entire process step-by-step.
Putting It All Together
Calla Lilies put on a stunning floral display each year. If you want to get even more blooms (or have them for longer periods), keeping your Calla Lilies healthy is key. Temperature and sunlight are the most critical factors for blooming. These beauties need at least six hours of sunlight each day to reach their blooming potential. Keep in mind that warmer climates typically mean you’ll see the flowers sooner than you will in cooler climates.
To encourage even more blooms, adjust your watering practices as needed and add nutrients to the soil if it’s lacking. Deadhead spent blooms to get another round of blossoms and remove old, spent flowers. With a little care and attention, you can coax even more blooms from your Calla Lilies. Just have patience and ensure they have the best conditions possible to see the best results each season.