Zantedeschia elliottiana Captain Reno - Calla Lily

The Arum or Calla 'Captain Reno', also known as Zantedeschia, is a variety of singular beauty with its dark violet spathe flowers with purple reflections! This stemless perennial forms a compact clump of large sagittate, undulate, dark green leaves marbled with white. It blooms abundantly from May to August, providing good cut flowers and embellishing gardens throughout the beautiful season. It is a plant that likes fresh to moist, well-drained, light and rich soils and a bright exposure without scorching sun. Very floriferous and well-furnished with beautiful dense foliage, it is an ornamental perennial that works wonders in a pot on a terrace or balcony. Not frost-hardy, heavily mulch in warm regions. Elsewhere, overwinter it in a frost-free room.

Zantedeschia 'Captain Reno' is one of the many hybrids that have been obtained by cross-breeding two main species native to Eastern and Southern Africa, Zantedeschia rehmannii and Zantedeschia elliottiana. 'Captain Reno' is a stemless species with large sagittate, undulate, dark green leaves marbled with transparent white. Medium-sized and compact in habit, it measures about 40cm (16in) tall and 50cm (20in) wide. Like other hybrids, this plant requires specific growing conditions to flower. The flower, characteristic of arums, produces a highly ornamental spathe, almost 10cm (4in) in diameter, hiding in its heart a golden yellow spadix. Its thick roots sink perpendicularly into the growing medium, which are fleshy and trailing rhizomes. In nature, this plant grows in marshes that generally dry out in summer, under hot climates all year round. Vegetation dries up, and the tuber enters a period of dormancy. This vegetative cycle must be strictly respected in cultivation. Florist's arums live for many years if the cyclic rest period is well respected.

Zantedeschia 'Captain Reno' is particularly suitable for pot cultivation, as long as it benefits from regular watering. It can also be planted in moist soil, near a water source, or even partially submerged, in less than 20cm (8in) of water in summer. Its exotic-looking vegetation will wonderfully accompany large ferns, sedges, and creeping Lysimachias in a humid and lush environment. Outside mild climate regions, dig up the rhizomes and overwinter them in a dry place at 10 °C, before replanting them next spring. Otherwise, mulch with a minimum of 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in).