Golden calla
Zantedeschia elliottiana
Golden calla is a tuberous perennial in the arum family (Araceae) grown for its large, brilliant golden-yellow funnel-shaped spathes — typically marked with a deep purple blotch at the base and wrapping a matching yellow spadix — held on stout stems above deep-green, white-spotted leaves in summer. Its wild origin is genuinely uncertain: it is said to occur in Mpumalanga province (former Transvaal), South Africa, but credible sources treat it as a garden plant of unknown parentage with no confirmed wild population (Wikipedia). In the garden it is a bold container and border accent for zones 8-10, and it overwinters as a lifted tuber in colder climates. The honest catch is threefold: every part is toxic (calcium-oxalate raphides cause intense oral burning — hazardous to children, pets, and livestock), the plant is frost-tender (RHS H1C) and must be lifted and stored dry below about zone 9, and it dislikes sitting in wet soil during dormancy — distinctly more drought-tolerant but more rot-prone than its white-spathed cousin Z. aethiopica.
Climate fit: narrow (21/100)
Focal point
Container
Border
Light
Full sun / Part sun
Water
Moderate water
Mature size
18-36" tall · 18" apart
Hardy in zones
8a-10b
cold to mild winters
Native in Illinois
No
All parts of Zantedeschia elliottiana — tubers, leaves, spathe, spadix, and berries — contain insoluble calcium-oxalate crystals (raphides).
Cold hardiness
These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.
Now
Zone 6b
Plotwright
USDA Zone 6b
-5°F to 0°F
Won't grow here
Zone 7a
Plotwright
0°F to 5°F
Won't grow here
In plain terms: This location has cold winters. Its winters are projected to keep warming through 2050.
✕
Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.
Heat tolerance
Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.
Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...
Where this plant fits
Suitable across 39 ecoregions — 34 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.
Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
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Arizona Mountains forests
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Atlantic coastal pine barrens
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California coastal sage and chaparral
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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests
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Central-Southern Cascades Forests
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Chihuahuan desert
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Chilean Matorral
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Plant this, not that
Better fit for this place
For Chicago, IL, these are replacement suggestions: similar plants with a stronger hardiness fit now and/or in 2050.
Hylotelephium 'Herbstfreude'
Autumn-joy stonecrop
A clump-forming herbaceous perennial grown for its showy late-season flower heads: masses of tiny star-like flowers borne in flattened cymes 3-6 inches across that emerge rosy pink, deepen to rose-red, and fade to coppery-rust as they die. Gray-green, fleshy, succulent-like leaves form upright clumps to about 2 feet. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant and attracts butterflies, and its foliage and dead inflorescences persist into winter for added interest.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Leucanthemum × superbum
Shasta daisy
The classic white-and-yellow garden daisy — a clump-forming herbaceous perennial bearing showy single flower heads of white ray florets around a yellow central disc from midsummer into fall. A garden hybrid bred by Luther Burbank in the 1890s near snow-covered Mt. Shasta in northern California, it grows 2-3 feet tall and is a mainstay of the perennial border, cottage garden, and cutting garden. Easily grown in dry-to-medium, well-drained soil in full sun, it is drought tolerant, attracts butterflies, and is resistant to deer and rabbit browsing.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Tricyrtis hirta
Toad Lily
Tricyrtis hirta is a hardy herbaceous perennial native to the shaded rocky cliffs and stream banks of central and southern Japan (Wikipedia), prized for its orchid-like, white-to-pale-purple flowers speckled with dark purple spots that bloom in late summer and autumn when little else flowers. It fills a genuine gap in the shade garden calendar, bringing unusual beauty to north-facing borders and woodland edges. The honest catch is twofold: it demands consistently moist, humus-rich soil and absolutely detests drought or waterlogging, and its late-emerging, hairy stems are magnets for slugs in spring — a lapse in mollusc control can shred a clump before it even flowers.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Buxus microphylla
Japanese Box
Japanese box is a compact, dense evergreen shrub long cultivated in Japan (where it was first described from cultivated plants of uncertain wild origin) with truly wild populations known from Taiwan, used for centuries for topiary, low hedging, and bonsai. Its fine-textured small leaves and naturally tidy habit make it one of the most widely planted formal garden shrubs in temperate regions, and the 'Faulkner' cultivar holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The honest catch is a double threat: all parts contain steroidal alkaloids (cyclobuxine) and are toxic to humans and livestock, and the species is under sustained pressure from box blight (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) and the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), with B. microphylla documented as more susceptible than the common European B. sempervirens, so an established hedge can be defoliated within weeks.
Better fit now and in 2050
Now: well-suited
2050: well-suited
Similar plants
Browse lateral options with similar roles, light needs, size, or native-range overlap; these are not filtered for a better climate fit.
Eucomis comosa
Pineapple lily
Eucomis comosa, the pineapple lily or wine eucomis, is a deciduous summer-growing bulb in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), endemic to the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. From a large, often purple bulb it sends up a basal rosette of strap-shaped leaves and a stout flower spike packed with white-to-purple star flowers, crowned by a tuft of leafy bracts that gives it a pineapple-like silhouette in mid-to-late summer. It is a striking focal-point and container subject for borders, prized for its long-lasting bloom. Hardiness is the load-bearing caution: it is frost-tender to only borderline-hardy (RHS H4, roughly USDA 8–10, surviving brief dips near -5 to -10 C in well-drained, sheltered ground), so in colder climates it is grown in pots and lifted or moved under cover for winter, and it resents winter wet. The bulb and foliage contain saponins and can cause mild mouth irritation, drooling, and stomach upset if eaten, so keep it away from pets and children.
Gerbera jamesonii
Barberton daisy
Gerbera jamesonii, the Barberton daisy (also Transvaal daisy), is a tufted evergreen perennial herb in the daisy family (Asteraceae) native to the summer-rainfall grasslands and rocky woodland of north-eastern South Africa and Eswatini. It forms a basal rosette of lobed leaves from which leafless flowering scapes rise, each topped by a single large daisy-style flowerhead in orange-red, yellow, pink, or white. It is the wild ancestor of the thousands of florist gerbera cultivars and earns its place as a long-blooming focal point in borders and patio containers, attractive to bees and other insects. The load-bearing caution is frost-tenderness: RHS rates it H1C, meaning it survives outdoors only in summer or the very mildest, frost-free spots and must be overwintered under glass elsewhere (roughly USDA 9-11). It is non-toxic, with no reported poisoning hazard to people or pets, making it a safe choice where toxicity is a concern.
Ranunculus asiaticus
Persian Buttercup
Persian buttercup is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to the eastern Mediterranean — from Cyprus, Crete, and Turkey across to Iran, Iraq, and the Levant — where it blooms in rocky scrub and meadows in late winter through spring. In gardens it is prized for its luminous, poppy-like flowers in red, orange, pink, yellow, and white (wild single forms) or the dense, multi-layered doubles of commercial 'Tecolote' and 'Bloomingdale' strains beloved by florists. The honest catch is its frost-tenderness: the tubers are killed below roughly -10°C, so gardeners in USDA zones 7 and colder must lift and store them after foliage dies down each summer, and the whole plant contains protoanemonin, a skin and gut irritant toxic to humans and livestock on contact or ingestion.
Aloe maculata
Soap aloe
Aloe maculata (soap aloe, also called zebra aloe; long sold as Aloe saponaria) is a clumping, stemless succulent from southern Africa with broad, triangular leaves marked by distinctive "H-shaped" pale spots. It is grown for its flat-topped racemes of tubular flowers in shades of orange-red to coral and yellow, held on tall branched stalks that draw sunbirds, bees, and other insects. A tough, drought- and salt-tolerant groundcover that spreads by suckers, it suits rock gardens, dry borders, coastal plantings, and containers in warm climates. It is frost-tender: the RHS rates it H1C (roughly USDA 9b-11), so leaves are damaged below freezing and it needs protection or indoor wintering where frosts occur. The leaf gel is used traditionally for skin and other ailments, but the plant is recorded as harmful if eaten (handle with care; seeds are reputedly poisonous), so treat it as not for casual consumption around people and pets.
Viburnum davidii
David viburnum
David viburnum is a compact, mound-forming evergreen shrub native to western China (its provenance usually given as the Sichuan / Yunnan region), grown for its bold, deeply three-veined glossy leaves, small clusters of white flowers in late spring, and — when fruiting — striking oval drupes in a distinctive metallic turquoise-blue. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit and suits the front of borders, shaded corners, and containers in cool-temperate to mild climates. The honest catch is a fundamental one: it is dioecious, so you must plant at least one male and one female together to get the celebrated blue fruit — a single plant in isolation will never berry, and many gardeners discover this only after years of waiting.
Buxus microphylla
Japanese Box
Japanese box is a compact, dense evergreen shrub long cultivated in Japan (where it was first described from cultivated plants of uncertain wild origin) with truly wild populations known from Taiwan, used for centuries for topiary, low hedging, and bonsai. Its fine-textured small leaves and naturally tidy habit make it one of the most widely planted formal garden shrubs in temperate regions, and the 'Faulkner' cultivar holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. The honest catch is a double threat: all parts contain steroidal alkaloids (cyclobuxine) and are toxic to humans and livestock, and the species is under sustained pressure from box blight (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) and the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), with B. microphylla documented as more susceptible than the common European B. sempervirens, so an established hedge can be defoliated within weeks.
Educator packet
Plant packet
Golden calla educator packet
Golden calla is a tuberous perennial in the arum family (Araceae) grown for its large, brilliant golden-yellow funnel-shaped spathes — typically marked with a deep purple blotch at the base and wrapping a matching yellow spadix — held on stout stems above deep-green, white-spotted leaves in summer. Its wild origin is genuinely uncertain: it is said to occur in Mpumalanga province (former Transvaal), South Africa, but credible sources treat it as a garden plant of unknown parentage with no confirmed wild population (Wikipedia). In the garden it is a bold container and border accent for zones 8-10, and it overwinters as a lifted tuber in colder climates. The honest catch is threefold: every part is toxic (calcium-oxalate raphides cause intense oral burning — hazardous to children, pets, and livestock), the plant is frost-tender (RHS H1C) and must be lifted and stored dry below about zone 9, and it dislikes sitting in wet soil during dormancy — distinctly more drought-tolerant but more rot-prone than its white-spathed cousin Z. aethiopica.
Scientific name
Zantedeschia elliottiana
Plant type
perennial
Hardiness
8a-10b
Light
full-sun, part-sun
Moisture
moderate
Spacing
18 inches
Classroom prompts
- Which plant traits are observations, and which are care recommendations?
- How would this plant fit change if the garden location moved warmer, colder, wetter, or drier?
- Which source-backed facts would you cite in a lesson handout?
Use the Sources & citations section below for page citation styles and the field-level source list.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
For lesson plans, articles, or research that uses this page. To cite a single upstream fact instead, use its specific source listed below.
Plotwright. (2026, May 17). Golden calla (Zantedeschia elliottiana). Retrieved 2026, June 30, from https://plotwright.com/plants/zantedeschia-elliottiana
Sources for every fact
Every fact on this page traces to a source. 18 fields cited - 18 source-backed.
RHS Find a Plant
Botanical research database
Backs 17 fields
Identity
Summary
Plant type
Light
Moisture
Hardiness
Heat zone
Size
Spacing
Habit
Design roles
Seasonal interest
Growth stages
Lifecycle
Regional guidance
Success tips
Designer notes