Calla Lilies make a beautiful and low-maintenance addition to any garden and are often used to create elegant bouquets, attract butterflies and hummingbirds, and establish surreal landscapes.
Calla Lilies are in the Zantedeschia genus, which includes eight species of herbaceous, rhizomatous plants that are all native to South Africa. The large, projecting flowers aren’t technically a flower; instead, the trumpet shape is the showy spathe that surrounds the yellow spadix that carries the true flowers!
These funnel-like spathe come in a range of colors from hundreds of varieties. While white Canna Lilies are the traditional choice for weddings, some varieties boast shades of purple, red, yellow, and pink. Some varieties can even combine two different colors.
Calla Lilies are guaranteed to bring vibrant and colorful life to your home or garden, so be sure to plant these low-growing, gorgeous flowers where they will be noticed!
Calla Lilies are easy to grow once planted. If you reside in USDA Hardness Zones 8 – 10, then you will be able to treat them as perennials and leave your Calla Lilies in the ground throughout the winter.
If you live in any other USDA Hardness Zone, you will have to treat them as annuals, dig them out in the fall, and replant them in the spring. But, otherwise, keeping them watered and cutting your plentiful flowers for beautiful bouquets will be your only chores.
The following varieties of colorful Canna Lilies are sure to bring color, vibrancy, and grace to your garden!
1. Black Magic – Zantedeschia sp.
Despite its name, the majority of this flower is yellow, with only a small amount of stunning black located deep within the tube of the flower.
It a truly unique combination of colors that looks great in bouquets. And due to its large size, this variety works well planted in the middle or back of garden beds.
2. Acapulco Gold – Zantedeschia sp.
This variety is one of the brightest on the market. Its vibrant sunny yellow color and small stature makes this variety a wonderful choice for bouquets and garden borders.
The Acapulco Gold Calla Lily is loved by florists and gardeners for its large flowers that are long-lasting when cut.
3. Best Gold – Zantedeschia Best Gold
A favorite for bouquets, this hybrid variety brings cheerful elegance to any garden. It is known to be highly deer resistance and because of its bright color and short stature, it is a great flower to plant to fill gaps in your flower beds. This variety blooms from mid-season well into the fall.
4. Millennium Queen Calla Lily – Zantedeschia elliottiana
This hybrid Calla Lily has white speckled leaves with large yellow flowers that bloom during the mid-summer months.
This short statured variety enjoys warm, sunny spots, which makes it an ideal candidate for garden borders and containers.
It is less hardy than other Calla Lily varieties, so don’t delay in getting the bulbs out of the ground in the fall if you live in USDA Harness Zones 3 – 7.
5. Odessa Calla Lily – Zantedeschia rehmannii
This popular Calla Lily variety has eye-catching rich purple flowers that are so dark they seem almost black until they vibrantly shine in the sun.
Paired with their bold speckled leaves, they create elegant diversity in your garden space. This mid-sized variety is easy to grow and makes beautiful bouquets.
6. Nashville Calla Lily – Zantedeschia Nashville
Technically multi-colored, Nashville Calla Lily is known for its vibrant purple hues that overtake the fluted petal of the flower, creating a gradient of purple and creamy white, with green extending from the stalk.
This elegant variety is smaller than other calla lilies, which makes it a great choice for containers or garden edges.
7. Night Cap Calla Lily – Zantedeschia sp.
Night cap Calla Lily boast a rich purple that fades to a deep red along the petals. It has smaller flowers than other Calla Lilies, making it another great choice for border areas.
This variety also tolerates soil moisture much better than other varieties and can easily be planted in bog gardens, or along streams or ponds.
8. Rubylite Pink Ice Calla Lily – Zantedeschia sp.
This delicately shaded variety boasts icy pastels of streaked purplish pink. It is loves by florists for its beauty and because it has long lasting cut flowers.
Much smaller than other Calla Lily varieties, which makes it a great choice for containers or borders.
9. Red Alert Calla Lily – Zantedeschia sp.
Red alert Calla Lily has fire-engine red flowers that are lightly mottled with orange. It will grow in full sun but prefers a spot with afternoon shade.
It blooms earlier in summer than other varieties and will last until the first frost. Unlike many varieties, the Red Alert Calla Lily easily tolerates moisture in its soil, so it is a great choice to plant near water features.
10. Captain Reno® Calla Lily – Zantedeschia sp.
This variety has gorgeous deep burgundy flowers creating a stunning look in the garden or cut for a vase.
The Capital Reno Calla Lily has broad, large, speckled foliage that gives this plant a tropical look. It will continue blooming until the first frost.
11. California Red Calla Lily – Zantedeschia sp.
This variety boasts a fantastic shade of deep red that has a slight hint of pink. The California Red Calla Lily is one of the taller varieties, maturing at an average of two feet. It is their long stem and unique coloring that make it a favorite choice for bouquets.
12. Majestic Red – Zantedeschia sp.
The Majestic Red Calla Lily is the perfect shade of vibrant red to pair with white roses for a striking bouquet.
It is a variety that does very well in containers because of its small size, low maintenance requirements, and fondness of well drained soil.
13. Captain Rosette® Calla Lily – Zantedeschia Captain Rosette
Another favorite of florists, this variety’s flowers fade from light rosy, pink to a creamy white base.
This variety stand taller, with a thicker and longer stem, than many other Calla Lily varieties, which makes it a great choice to layer with other Calla Lilies to create a beautiful array of colors throughout the season.
14. Super Gem Calla Lily
The Super Gem Calla Lily variety is a hybrid that boasts hot pink flowers, tall stalks, and tropical leaves.
The foliage of this variety is much less spotted than most other Calla Lily varieties, and the leaves stand more upright, making this variety appear more tropical than other varieties.
15. Captain Violetta® Calla Lily
This gorgeous pink variety of Calla lily is a favorite for florist because it grows several flowers for each rhizome, making it an excellent producer until the first frost.
It is also deer resistant and particularly designed to be hardy in containers. The Captain Violetta variety is a great choice to plant near water features because it tolerates soil moisture and prefers rich soil.
They are a taller variety compared to other calla lilies, so plant them in the middle or back of your flowerbeds.
16. Pink Melody Calla Lily
This variety boast a flower with a green and white base that fades to pink as it extends out the tube of the flower.
Another one of the taller varieties of Calla Lilies, the Pink Melody variety averages near two feet tall, making it a better choice in garden beds than containers.
17. Classic Harmony – Zantedeschia
The Classic Harmony Calla Lily is a soft and creamy pink color that delicately enhances the elegance of any garden.
On the smaller size, they can be planted along borders, and they look especially good planted in a mix of other calla lily colors.
18. Picasso® Calla Lily
This easy to grow Calla Lily variety has unique bicolor petals that fade from a creamy white to a spectacular violet center.
An absolute favorite for bouquets, its boldly spotted foliage is often included in the cuttings. This variety grows taller than others, so make sure to plant them in the middle or back of the flower beds.
19. Mango Calla Lily – Zantedeschia Mango
This beautiful multi-colored variety of Calla Lily blooms a bright apricot color that is edged in coral with a touch of green where the stalks meet the flowerheads.
The foliage is deep green with noticeable white specks. Its smaller size makes it great for borders and edges, and its vibrant colors makes it a favorite for bouquets.
20. Captain Safari® Calla Lily – Zantedeschia Captain Safari®
This multi-colored Calla Lily variety boast vivid orange and gold colored flowers that bloom until the first frost.
Its arching and upright foliage has a blue-green hue and are speckled with white. They have long stems and would complement a tropical inspired garden.
21. Fire Dancer Calla Lily
The Fire Dancer Calla Lily is known to be one of the showiest and most unique of all the Calla Lily hybrid varieties.
As its name would suggest, the flower is a shade of deep gold that is edged in red. Plant this variety along borders, in containers, or anywhere its going to get the attention that it deserves.
22. Anneke Calla Lily
The Anneke variety of Calla Lily stunned the horticultural world when it made its first debut, thanks to its gorgeous deep purple that has a beautiful yellow hue hidden within the tube of the flower.
It naturally became a favorite for bouquets and had remained as one of the top selling varieties on the market.
Conclusion
Calla Lilies are a beautiful and low maintenance addition to the garden and can be found in shades of white, purple, red, yellow, and pink.
They are a delight to look at while they are growing in the garden or when they are cut for a vase.
Most varieties are deer and rabbit resistant, making them great choices for borders, edges, and containers.
They prefer moist soil in full sun but will tolerate a range of conditions. Remember to plant these low-growing, trumpet-shaped gorgeous flowers where they will be noticed!
Written By
Margie Fetchik
Margie and Arkansas native has an extensive background in gardening and landscaping. For the last 40 years, Margie has called the Colorado Rocky Mountains her home. Here she and her husband of 36 years raised three kids and owned a successful landscaping company. Margie has a CSU Master Gardener certification. She specialized in garden design & installation, perennial gardens, turf grasses & weeds, flower containers, and the overall maintenance of allHOA, commercial and residential accounts. She and her husband now reside in Denver and are excited about the new experiences’ city life holds.