On Sat, 17 Jun 2006, J.E. Shields wrote: > I would like to hear from folks who can grow Zantedeschia outdoors in the > ground all year round in USDA zones 7 or colder. I'm convinced that there > are out there somewhere some truly hardy Zantedeschia for zone 5, but I > just have not come across them yet! Who has them? Jim, I've probably worn this topic out (or maybe that was on another list), but I'm in NW Arkansas, nominally USDA zone 6, but with winters ranging from 5 to 7 (last several were 7s, nothing below about 5 F/-15 C). I grow all my Zantedeschias, with 3 exceptions below, outdoors all year, no protection. Several, including "Flame" and a small-flowered cultivar which clearly has a lot of Z. rehmanii in it, have been out there for at least 15 years, which includes the odd -20 F/-29 C night. Some of the newer ones, including "Black Pearl" which went in last year, haven't been through a hard winter yet, but broke dormancy at about the same time as the older ones. I'm doing what you did, plenty of water in summer and none besides what nature provides in winter. Whatever I'm doing right, it's not calculated. I'll be glad to compare growing conditions, or send you some offsets of the long-term survivors here, or seeds in late summer. The exceptions: I can't grow Z. aethiopica outdoors at all, even though it's supposed to be the hardiest, due to the wildly fluctuating spring temperatures here. And I recently acquired two species zants from S. Africa which are unknowns, so I won't risk them outdoors until I have enough to lose a few. Steve -- Steve Marak -- samarak@gizmoworks.com