In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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« Black plants | In the Garden front page | Winter berries »

November 2, 2007

Harvesting calla seeds

If you grow callas, you probably have fat green seedpods forming. The flowering stalks are beginning to flop over with the weight of the seeds inside.

Eventually the green covering will split open, and inside you’ll see "berries" - bright yellow to off white - arranged in rows like an ear of corn. They even look like kernels of corn. Can you plant them? The answer is yes.

Wait until the kernels are ripe and the pod splits open. The longer you leave the stem on the plant, the better. Eventually it will start to dry up, and the coating on the kernels will get soft and squishy.

There’s a seed inside each kernel. Some people pop the seeds out, but I simply plant the whole kernel. The big, old-fashioned white callas can produce up to 25 or 30 seeds per stalk. The dwarf callas produce a dozen or so.

I plant them in four-inch pots rather than directly in the ground since it’s easier for me to care for them. Poke the kernels about an inch deep and two or three inches apart. Keep the pots watered, but not soggy.

Some seeds will germinate right away while others can take several weeks. Be patient. The seedlings are tough, and require little care, but certainly can’t be ignored. Once two or three leaves have formed, pot them into a larger pot, or into the ground. Again, keep an eye on them.

They should bloom the second year. Each year the clump will get bigger, and produce more blooms. In my area callas are deer proof, and for me that makes them a very desirable plant.

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