I’m taking part in a sponsored calla trial this year! Last year I experimented with growing callas in my high tunnels. I’m working to grow as wide a range of flowers as possible to diversify my arrangements, so I dove into callas last year, and results were great.

There is a tall traditional Ethiopian calla that Northwest gardeners have been able to grow successfully for a long time, and then there’s florist callas, hybrids that come in a bunch of colors and are just the right size for floral work. Florist callas like it a bit warmer and less bright than our Northwest summers, so I set up a fancy “calla compound” in one of the high tunnels – a raised bed with a 30% shade cloth cover to encourage the flowers to grow taller, mulch to hold in moisture, and netting to keep the taller flower stems from falling over.

I was pretty pleased with results! Callas wiggled their way into a lot of Woodbine vases last year.

This year, I’m one of a handful of growers selected by wholesale supplier Express Seeds to trial a sample of five calla varieties; I’ve agreed to keep detailed production and yield notes.  The calla compound results were great, so I’ll be following what I learned carefully. Watch your bouquets and arrangements for white, blush, dark pink, yellow and dark red callas, and let me know what you think.

Categories: Floral ArrangementsTags: Centralia flowers, farmer florist, Lewis County flowers, locally grown cut flowers