Question
I live in the Northwest where winters are cold and it rains alot. I moved into a house last winter that to my surprise has 3 very large white Calla Lillies with the large green leafs.  They are planted in an area where they get alot of sunlight and rain.  They were very beautiful last summer.  Now what do i do with them?  They are still in the ground and they still have some leaves present.  The leaves don't look pretty.  Do I leave them there or do i remove them.  If i do remove them how much of them do i remove?  Will they grow again?  Also we seem to have a lot of earwigs in the summer that surround the Lillies, how do i get rid of them?
thanks, Sherrine

Answer
First, let's discuss your Earwigs -- forming the Order known as 'Dermaptera' to botanists.  Everything you ever wanted to know about these scary looking beneficial insects is here at Bugguide:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/2709

Their pincers are what make these bugs so ominous.  Common sense will tell you they do awful things, to other bugs, with those pincers.  This is precisely why we like them so much -- Earwigs attack soft bodied Aphids and other insects that we would rather not deal with.

What we don't like about them is that they ALSO like some of our favorite plants.  While carniverous, Earwigs are not above a diet of fruits and vegetables.  And they do like Lilies.

Lilies?  Not a problem.

Get something slippery or sticky around the bottom of your stems, and watch the Earwigs head for the hills.  They just can't slither over the slippery part.

I am not a big fan of trapping insects as a means of control, not because I am sympathetic toward the insect(s), but because I just don't think these methods work if you have a substantial problem.  And I think you probably have a substantial Earwigs problem.  May as well get it right.

Birds will gobble these creepy crawlers right up.  So do Lizards.  And other animals, large and small.  Get yourself a Birdbath to keep the Birds happy.

Now, let's talk about your Callas.  There are 2 kinds of Calla Lilies -- 'Zantedeschia'.  Big, white Callas and smaller, colorful Callas.

You probably have the large, White florist's Calla Lily.  It is 2-3 feettall and has solid Green leaves.

Calla Lilies need a rest period.  

As Pacific Callas points out: 'Callas require 10 weeks of vegetative growth post flowering. Dormancy then requires another 8-10 weeks prior to regrowing.'

There may be clues to identifying your plant in a Los Angeles Times article:

www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-callas17mar17,0,986555.story?coll=la-home-home

This was published 3 years ago, during the Spring of 2005, to erase 'the common white Calla' which 'can survive on rain and go Summer dormant, or it can stay evergreen with irrigation.'

It is a vigorous, aggressive plant, the Calla in this article: 'Some people find them a bit too successful: The knobby asymmetrical tubers disguise themselves as dirt clods, so old plantings are difficult to emove.'

Note please the LA Times writes also that this is referred to as the 'Arum Lily' in its native South Africa.  Is it a coincidence that you described it as 'exactly the same'?

Evidence here may point to Zantedeschia aethiopica.  Of this species, the LA Times writes that this 'is one of two Summer-dormant Arum Lilies from the flora-rich Cape region of South Africa ?and the most robust. The second Cape species, Z. odorata, is rare, white and freesia-scented.'

Any fragrance you note in your mystery white Calla?

Thanks for writing and best regards,

L.I.G.