Plant of the Week: Arum Lily

My friend and flatmate is getting married next year to my other friend and flatmate and she has chosen the Arum Lily for her bouquet flower. However when it comes to the tradition of throwing her bouquet  to all the unmarried women at her wedding she would rather skip this part than lose that expensive  flower bunch. Arum Lilys prosper in boggy soils in full or half sun and down the back of my garden I have a few Arum Lilys growing like weeds. As I recall from last year they flower in January perfect timing for my friends' wedding. So I am just going to whip her up a bunch of "homemade"  Arum Lilys so she can throw those instead. Only catch to all this is that she aims for my hands!

The Arum Lily, Zantedeschia, is thought to be named after Professor Zantedeschi, an Italian physician and botanist. Although called the arum lily, it is neither an arum ( the genus Arum) nor a lily ( genus Lilium). It is an excellent cutflower and lasts a long time in water. Interestingly, the striking arum lily "flower" is actually many tiny flowers arranged in a complex spiral pattern on the central column (spadix). 


The white arum is very easily cultivated by seed or division. The fruit is ripe when it has turned yellowish and is soft. The pulp should be removed and the seed dried off. The fleshy rootstock can be divided, use a sharp spade to cut out a section for replanting.