Calla lilies are a gorgeous addition to any garden with their striking blooms and lush green foliage. But like any flowering plant, those blossoms eventually fade and wilt. This leads many gardeners to wonder: do you deadhead calla lilies?
The simple answer is yes – deadheading is recommended for calla lilies. Removing spent blooms encourages the plant to focus energy on developing healthy roots and foliage rather than seed production. It also promotes more flowers.
While not absolutely necessary, deadheading calla lilies provides multiple benefits. Read on for a complete guide to deadheading these stately beauties.
What Is Deadheading?
Deadheading refers to removing faded, dying, or spent blooms from flowering plants. It redirects the plant’s energy from developing seeds to generating more buds and flowers.
Deadheading also keeps plants looking tidy by getting rid of drooping, unsightly blooms It can help reduce disease by eliminating dying flower parts that can harbor pests and fungus
For plants that bloom on new wood like calla lilies, deadheading allows more new growth. On plants that bloom on old wood, it encourages a second flush of flowers.
When to Deadhead Calla Lilies
When you deadhead calla lilies, timing is important. It’s best to get rid of spent blooms as soon as they start to fall apart.
- Petals begin fading and wilting
- Flowers droop or bend over
- Blooms turn brown or translucent
You want to catch them before the blooms dry up completely. But avoid cutting too early while flowers are still viable.
Ideally, deadhead calla lilies in the morning or late afternoon when temperatures are cooler. This reduces stress.
Deadhead flowers periodically through the season. Don’t wait until all the blooms are gone; take them off as they fade. Frequent deadheading prolongs overall bloom time.
How to Deadhead Calla Lilies
Deadheading calla lilies is simple:
Use Sharp, Clean Pruners or Scissors
Avoid tearing stems, which can damage the plant. Make clean cuts.
Snip Spent Blooms at Their Base
Remove the entire bloom just above the stem or foliage. Be careful not to cut healthy leaves.
Leave Some Stem Stubs
Don’t cut all the way down to soil level. Leave some bare stem stubs just above leaves or emerging buds.
Discard Debris
Dead blooms can harbor pests, so discard them promptly. Don’t compost diseased flowers.
Provide Aftercare
Give plants a nutritional boost with fertilizer to fuel new growth after deadheading. Maintain adequate water.
Deadhead Throughout the Season
To maximize blooms, deadhead regularly as flowers decline. Don’t just do it once.
That’s all there is to it! Just cut a few pieces off while the plants are growing.
To Deadhead or Not To Deadhead Calla Lilies
While not required, deadheading calla lilies is highly recommended. Here’s why:
-
Promotes more blooms – Removing spent flowers tells the plant to generate new buds.
-
Prevents seed production – Energy goes to new growth instead of seeds.
-
Improves appearance – Gets rid of unsightly, dying blooms.
-
Reduces disease – Eliminates decaying flower parts that spread pathogens.
-
Encourages healthy roots – Plant directs resources to robust rhizome growth.
However, there are reasons you may choose to skip deadheading:
-
Collecting seeds – Allow spent blooms to form seed pods for gathering seeds.
-
Self-sowing – Enable natural seed drop to generate new volunteer plants.
-
Naturalistic look – Some gardeners prefer leaving plants alone for a more natural effect.
So weigh the benefits against your own goals. But in most cases, deadheading is advantageous.
How Deadheading Affects Reblooming
Deadheading calla lilies encourages repeat flowering. The energy saved from seed production goes into generating new flower buds on the rhizomes.
However, getting callas to rebloom relies on optimal growing conditions too. Ensure plants have:
-
Full sun
-
Rich, moist soil
-
Adequate fertilizer
-
Warm temperatures
-
Protection from frost
Meeting these needs allows rhizomes to thrive. The aim is to produce fat, healthy tubers that support vigorous growth and abundant blooms the following year. Continued deadheading helps accomplish this.
So in ideal conditions with proper care, calla lilies will generally reflower after deadheading. But environment, climate, and variety affect repeat performance.
Deadheading Alternatives
Don’t have pruners on hand? Try these easy alternatives to deadhead calla lilies:
Pinching
Simply pinch off spent blooms using your fingertips. Grasp at the junction of the flower and stem and pinch/twist lightly.
Snapping Stems
Bend faded stems until the dried bloom snaps off naturally. Avoid damaging healthy growth.
Leave Alone
It’s perfectly fine not to deadhead. The blooms and stems will wither and drop on their own.
Let Self-Sow
Allow spent flowers to go to seed and drop. This will generate new plants around the parent.
Collect Seeds
Gather dried seed pods, or allow pods to self-sow in trays for harvesting later.
These easy options provide flexibility when deadheading isn’t practical.
Caring for Callas After Deadheading
Proper aftercare is key to encourage reblooming and healthy growth after deadheading calla lilies:
-
Apply fertilizer or compost to nourish the plant.
-
Keep soil consistently moist, providing extra water as needed.
-
Stake stems if needed for support as new growth emerges.
-
Watch for pests like aphids that may attack tender new foliage.
-
Provide shade if temperatures rise above 80°F (27°C).
-
Mulch around rhizomes to maintain cool soil conditions.
-
Stop deadheading once foliage starts yellowing in autumn.
Continued care keeps calla lilies vigorous, promotes reblooming, and sets the stage for winter dormancy.
Deadheading Callas in Different Climates
Your local growing conditions play a key role in deadheading practices:
Hot Climates
Focus on moisture retention and heat protection. Mulch heavily and water frequently after deadheading. Provide shade cloths if temps exceed 85°F (29°C).
Humid Climates
Prune back extra foliage after deadheading to allow air circulation. Disinfect tools between plants to prevent disease spread in damp conditions.
Cold Climates
Deadhead until 6-8 weeks before your average first frost date. Then allow the plant to transfer resources to the rhizomes before going dormant.
Arid Climates
Take extra care to deeply water after deadheading. Fertilize sparingly and mulch beds to conserve soil moisture in dry environments.
Tailoring practices to your climate ensures plants recover and reflower successfully after deadheading.
Do You Have to Deadhead Calla Lilies?
While deadheading brings substantial benefits, it’s not 100% necessary for calla health. You can certainly skip it.
But removing spent blooms will maximize flowers, maintain an attractive look, and promote winter hardiness. Deadheading is a simple way to get the most out of your calla lily’s performance.
For gardeners seeking more abundant blooms and vigorous tubers that fuel future growth, periodic deadheading is highly recommended. The small effort pays off in sustained beauty.
Plus, snipping off droopy, unsightly blooms keeps calla lily beds looking fresh. Your vibrant elegant bloomers will be the envy of the neighborhood when you commit to regular deadheading.
So while not strictly required, deadheading calla lilies is a smart practice. Follow the simple steps outlined here to enjoy more of these graceful flowers in your garden.
Why Won’t My Calla Lilies Bloom?
Even the most experienced gardeners can struggle with how to make a calla lily bloom. Others may wonder whether calla lilies bloom more than once. This topic is best explored when we understand the plant’s growth cycle.
Provided their needs have been met, you can generally expect a flush of calla lily flowers that lasts throughout the summer season. In most gardens, this means their blooms are produced and held over a period of approximately 6-12 weeks. Failure to flower can occur for various reasons, with some of the most common ones listed below.
- 1. Extra Nitrogen: Too much nitrogen in the soil can hurt the growth of buds on calla lilies, just like it can hurt the growth of buds on most other flowers. Too much nitrogen leads to an overproduction of foliage. This makes plants with lots of leaves that can’t bloom well. This problem can be fixed by testing your soil and making changes to it before you plant.
- 2. For flowers to grow, they need to be out of the sun. Most species of calla lily do best in full to partial sun, getting about 5 to 8 hours of direct sunlight every day. The plant can handle full sun in mild climates, but it does better in the shade during the hottest parts of the afternoon if it is grown in places where it gets hot in the summer.
- 3. Lack of WaterCalla lilies do best in soil that stays moist all the time. They can grow well near ponds, in ditches, or in other low places because of this. A lot of watering during the growing season is very important for flower production, especially in dry or drought-prone areas. Watering is an important part of taking care of calla lilies, but gardeners should make sure the soil doesn’t get too wet or stay wet for long periods of time.
- 4. Bugs Some feeding insects may change how blooms form, but most of the time they will only hurt the way they look. Buds that are misshapen or deformed are often one of the first signs of a severe infestation. The same is true for diseases; worse ones can kill plants completely.
How To Make Calla Lily Flower Bloom and Last Longer
Calla lilies are known for their graceful elegance. They are ideal in formal spaces, garden beds and containers and are always dazzling to even the most discerning of gardeners. They’re easy to grow, which further contributes to their popularity.
Many gardeners choose to plant the flower every year, which makes sure that it will bloom every year, usually in early summer. In zones where they are hardy, callas will behave as perennials, but conditions must be ideal for the plant to continue to flower well.
If you want to know why your calla lilies aren’t blooming, when they bloom, how to make them last longer, and how to make them flower again, this guide will answer some of the most common questions about their flowering needs.
Calla Lily Care Guide – Picking, Placing, and Parenting Your Plant
FAQ
Do calla lilies rebloom after cutting?
Unlike many other flowers, calla lily deadheading won’t cause the plant to create more blossoms. Each calla is made to make a certain number of flowers, from as few as one or two to as many as six. Once those blooms have died off, the plant will only show foliage until the following spring.
Will lilies bloom again if you deadhead them?
Deadheading lilies will encourage more flowers to form and prolong their display. It will also divert energy away from seed production, which can reduce flowering performance in subsequent years. If you’re growing martagon lilies, don’t deadhead these as these will gradually self-seed.
Do potted calla lilies bloom more than once?
Yes, Calla Lilies are perennial plants that bloom year after year in Zones 8–10. In cooler Zones, they require additional care to withstand winter frosts. For this reason, some gardeners choose to treat Calla Lilies like annuals and grow them for a single season before allowing them to die completely.
How do you Deadhead calla lilies?
Once you remove the dead flower, the plant can focus on getting ready for next year. The information on deadheading calla lilies is a simple set of instructions. Your aim is to remove the blossom, as well as to make the plant more attractive. Cut the stem off close to the base with garden shears or scissors.
What happens if you Deadhead a calla lily?
Even after deadheading a calla lily, the parent plant continues to grow and have green leaves. As the leaves slowly transition from green to yellow and eventually brown, fall is approaching, and most blooms will begin to fade. The flowers will still fade in the next season even if the blooms are left on.
Do you Deadhead lilies?
As the lilies’ petals fall, I deadhead them to prevent them setting seed. Then they are carefully dug up and put in nursery pots made from donated or recycled plastic. The Gowanus Nursery has been very helpful with both pots and recycled soil. The plants need to carry on growing, the leaves feeding the bulb, before winter storage.