the planting season starts

It's only the end of February, but my gardening juices are flowing.  Yesterday I was shopping for grass seed for a Master Gardener assignment when I came upon these beauties.  5 callas for only $10!  Count me in.
When I got them home, they sure didn't look anything like the picture.  Knobby, brown, sad-looking lumps is what you get.

And it's hard to know which end is up.  If you look closely, one side is fairly smooth, while the other has more going on - lumps on top of lumps, which are the growing tips.  It's that end up.

Calla are big plants, and need space to grow.  I plant each one separately in a 6-inch pot.  Add damp potting soil to the pot, pack it down so that the level is 4 inches below the top, press the bulb into the soil, and fill the pot with soil.  Water so that soil is damp.

Callas are tropical plants, and need warmth. My callas go on top of the furnace, where they get bottom heat until they produce their first shoot.  Then I bring them out into a sunny window, where they grow and wait until there is no danger of frost (June 1-5 on PEI) and then they go outside.  The flowers are beautiful, and satisfying because they last a long time. The leaves are nice too - shiny dark green with white speckles.

After the pots spent three weeks on the furnace, I brought them out into the light when the shoots broke the surface.  This picture is 5 weeks after planting.  The interesting thing is that although they were planted at the same time and have been grown under the same conditions, the shoots are growing at very different rates.  I will keep tabs on the rate of growth for each colour of flower.

After spending a month in a sunny window, the rewards are flowing!  Here is the first calla to flower.

It's a beautiful thing!  The other plants are showing signs of flowers to come.  It is really fun to watch the progresss of this plant, and I look forward to the other colours that will pop up.