I have also had success growing cannas from seed but the seed is very hard. I finally found a way to put a small hole in the seed, after trying EVERYTHING! I held the seed in one hand with needle nose pliers and pressed it hard against a metal rasp in the drill on high speed. It is the only thing that worked. I could not get anywhere with a file or a sharp knife or scizzors or any of the dozen things I tried. Now I know what works and will use that method for all of them in the future. After you soak them in warm water, you will know if you have penetrated the seed coat as they will swell and double in size. I don't seem to have a long enough growing season to get mature seeds before the frost. Would it help if I started them in pots indoors earlier in the spring? I would love to grow more variety of canna from seed. I grew dwarf white and one that is probably yellow this year. I have red flwrs/green leaves also. I am looking for seeds for the Tropicana variety or any fancy spriped leaves and the red leaves. I bought a Tropicana gold last fall but it didn't survive the winter :-(

Thanks for your suggestion. I donÂt have any experience with leaf rollers. I must admit I have never actually seen a leaf roller before,(I must be lucky in that respect). The leaves seem to be unrolling ok. The small, light green dots on the leaves are not actually holes but more like the leaves have the measles or something. I thought at first that it might be the dreaded virus but I heard that plants with virus grow very slowly and these seem to be growing at a normal rate. Because this is a dwarf variety; I think I am going to try them in large pots, (isolated from my other plants) and hope for the best. All my other Cannas have been started from seed or have come from very reliable sources and the leaves look totally normal and perfect. I read that if it is virus, the light green areas will turn brown and die but if it is root stress the new leaves will look better until the situation resolves. The whole thing is very confusing and hopefully I will have an answer to share with everyone later in the season. By the way, how do I post a picture in here? Thanks

Hi Buylady.... You water until the water runs through the pot. Water thoroughly then let the soil mix dry between waterings....Since you are a lot like me, and I could NEVER get the watering down right, why don't you use barbecue wooden skewers, or wooden dowels and push these into the root ball before you water. When it feels dry to your face cheeks, the water. It is the easiest and safest way to water your plants perfectly..Try it..:-) Never water a bit at a time, or in sips...Never... Hope this helps and I hope you are doing well... Your's truly, Me

Yes, the concrete is the problem but due to it being "unclean" more than uneven. We can fix that. I already had to nix the Marmoleum, due to the fact that I was informed by the KD and my Architect that it would start to "pit" in a few years. The tile is in poor condition, being nearly 100 years old and the prior Owner had laid vinyl tile over it. There is adhesive stuck to it, layers of dirt and who knows what else. We already know we could never clean it up well enough to receive the Marmoleum, which requires a squeaky clean layer underneath (I already have some background using the material so I'm aware of this, I had just forgotten until reminded).