Golden Star Calla Lily Bulbs

Light Needs

Part Sun to Full Sun

(5+ Hours Direct Sun)

Mature Height

1-2 Feet

Mature Spread

6-9 Inches

Growing Zones

8 to 10

Golden Star Calla Lily Bulbs creates a polished summer display with trumpet-shaped yellow flowers that look warm, clean, and architectural. Zantedeschia ‘Golden Star’ grows 12 to 24 inches tall, pairing golden spathes with speckled green foliage that stays attractive between bloom cycles. Each bulb can send up multiple stalks, making this variety useful for patio pots, border pockets, and cut arrangements. Our landscape designer finds the yellow especially helpful near dark foliage, where one pot can brighten a shaded seating area.

This South African calla lily behaves as a tender perennial in warm zones and as a lift-and-store summer bulb in colder gardens. The upright, funnel-shaped flowers hold their shape well in a vase, which is why callas are favorites for modern arrangements and event work. Deer usually leave the foliage alone, and the compact habit makes Golden Star easy to place in small spaces. Use it beside a pond edge, beside a front step in matching pots, or repeated through a narrow sunny border for clear yellow points.

Golden Star Calla Lily Bulbs Care

Plant in full sun to partial shade, with afternoon shade appreciated in hot-summer regions or on reflective patios. Use rich, loose, well-drained soil that holds some moisture but never stays swampy around the rhizome. A mildly acidic to near-neutral pH, roughly 6.0 to 6.5, suits container mixes and amended garden beds.

After planting, water once and then go lightly until leaves break the surface, since a dormant calla rhizome can rot before roots are active. Once the plant is in growth, give a deep drink whenever the top inch of soil begins to dry, watching pots more closely during heat. Mix slow-release bulb food into the planting area, then switch to a diluted bloom fertilizer every few weeks after foliage is up. When flowering winds down, let the leaves yellow before drying the pot or lifting the rhizomes for winter storage in cold zones.

Remove spent calla flowers by pulling the stalk cleanly from the base rather than leaving short stubs. Trim only damaged leaves during the season, then cut the foliage back once it has browned at dormancy. In zones 3 to 7, cure lifted rhizomes for a few days and store them in barely moist peat, sawdust, or vermiculite where they stay cool but unfrozen.

Golden Star Calla Lily Bulbs Spacing

Set Golden Star Calla Lily Bulbs 6 to 9 inches apart in garden beds, planting each rhizome 3 to 4 inches deep with the growing points facing up. For containers, use one bulb in a 6- to 8-inch pot or group three bulbs in a 10- to 12-inch pot for a fuller patio display. Callas bloom better when the container is snug but draining well, so use potting mix instead of garden soil and never let the saucer hold standing water. In mixed planters, keep Golden Star near the center or back so its yellow flowers rise cleanly above trailing plants.

Companion Planting

For patio containers in morning sun or bright part shade, pair Golden Star with coleus, begonias, and bacopa because they all enjoy steady moisture and fill the lower space below the upright calla flowers. In the landscape, elephant ears make the planting feel tropical, while hibiscus echoes the warm-season look with larger flowers and similar moisture needs. Sedge works along water-adjacent beds where drainage is still good, giving the calla foliage a fine-textured partner for contrast.

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