9 things I've learned about canna in zone 5--storage, planting...

19 years ago

I'm not saying I'm an expert but it seems a lot of folks have anxiety about canna how to's including me. I hate to lose something I love! FWIW here's what I've learned from my own mistakes and successes.

Here in Zone 5a might be different/ or not from warmer zones 6-7.

1. Size does matter: Some canna have giant tubers. Red stripe and musafolia for example are huge. The red stripe store for 8 months here and are fine- hardly can kill them no matter if you store on a shelf or a cardboard box, or throw a blanket over them. Wash them or don't wash them... As long as it's coolish and dark....

Other canna have smaller tubers- long skinny things or just tiny. I haven't had the best luck with these in a box- so I'm trying the barely moist peat moss in a plastic bag method. I've been warned these heat up early from karcheskycanna.com ( great co. by the way!) and will have to take them out of there before the ground here is ready and store out of peat for a months or so I guess.

2. I've learned it doesn't grow faster if you stick a canna in the ground in a April under a clouche'. Ground temps are the key to them taking off and it doesn't get you earlier blooms to go to the hassle of putting them out sooner. Or ...putting them in a warm house to start then in cold dirt...it doesn't grow any faster..

3. If you put canna out here in May the foliage will be ugly for a while- because if teh wind and sleet we have until June. So I put out June 1 even tho the frost free date is May 15.

4. If you put a canna in too late (mid June) / or in too much shade it WILL not bloom that year. Our growing season is 4 months before frost.

5. If someone trades you a shovel chopped canna down to one eye or less now - you probably have dead canna by planting time in spring.

6. No matter how close to the foundation ( microclimate) you plant any canna if left outside in zone 5 is a dead canna.

7. You can grow some types of canna true from seed in the house in May ( altho there are a lot of rogues) and plant them out June 1 and have them bloom before your tubers!

8. Water canna can do better in the garden than drier type canna can do in bog like conditions. Our rainfall is 30-40 inches annually.

9. Maybe miracle grow spray on fertilizer does make a difference in height of the plants?? will be double checking that thought next year....

If you have observations you'd like to share from zone 5 or colder zones I'd love to hear from you. :)

My brain can never get enough....

Hey thx, Karen

Featured Answer

popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)

7 years ago

I leave mine in the pots. At the end of the summer, I cut all the foliage down to about 2". Then cover the pots with brown paper, wrap them in bubble pack, and store them in my unheated garage. In April, I start bringing the pots out and let them sit outside all day, then put them back in the house or garage at night. This year, I invented the "canna trolley" to roll them out during the day and back at night.

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Comments (99)

marquest
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Karen,

Exactly what I have been doing for 3 years. It works....store in the pots, no to little water. They come up when it is time. They have an internal clock.
kris_mi
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
cheerpeople,
I live in Westernmichigan (zone 5or6) When should I plant the cannabulbs? End of May? Our last freeze (safe) is supposedly May 20th. (so I've heard)
You don't plant them in the house first? I'd prefer not to have to do this but if it would help I certainly will!
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cheerpeople
Original Author
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Phooey,
Kris- I'd emailed you seperately but have this to add...

I had a tiny half rotted black knight canna. I was able to get it grow roots with the 8 days on heat method- then i potted it like the rest in the basement where it is barely moist nad cooler- and it has since rotted entirely.

Apparently the ability to grow roots does not = survival if tiny and half rotten.

Karen
cheerpeople
Original Author
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I moved all the potted canna to an unheated shed with a garage door. I put them on a black fabric and the temp swings from 50 to 90- when we open the door and let the sunshine in on them for a few hours.

They are shooting up their first leaves in just 3 days.

MARQUEST

I will now be putting them in those 5 gallon buckets I have been collecting. I plan to leave them in the buckets and bring them in and store in those buckets next fall-winter. They have a handle and I think I can manage them as long as I don't load them up with heavy dirt.

What do you recommend for planting medium? I have plenty of these:

garden dirt- loamy with slight clay
peat
compost
I am not buying potting soil for 30 of these buckets!

LMK what combo you think I should use. Peat is the lightest to carry and dirt the heaviest. But it also needs to be ok for winter storage-not rotting them....

Thx!
Karen
Bonbon_N_KS
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, I'm in 5b and last summer had cannas on the south side of the house a foot or less from the foundation. We had a "normal" KS winter, avg. snow, wind chills -10 to -20 occasionally. Low and behold a couple of weeks ago, I have volunteer canna peeping their little leaf tips through the soil. I got lazy last fall, didn't even cut the tops off. Some of them are growing up through the old stem! I had a bet with a gardening buddy. (good thing we didn't wager anything, I'd have lost it)
Boca_Joe(zone 7b) southern Delaware
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Karen-

I hope you are documenting your canna methods, buckets, etc. with photos. Who knows we may see you on an INFO-mercial one day - Cheerpeople's Canna Containers- EZ-Grow- EZ-Stow! - hahaha

keep us posted

Boca Joe
marquest
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Karen, By the end of summer the pot is so full of bulbs they will not rot and remember all winter you really should only water maybe three times from Dec to March. So there is not enough moisture to promote rot.
donnann
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi, I am new to canna's. I bought giant red canna's from Ebay. I am trying to understand #6 on the first post. I wanted to plant them in front of my porch. Intense sun most of the day. I have had to move a lot of my plants that take sun because they'd wilt and die. Can they take hot sun and can they be planted against the house? It would be against wood slats, not cement. Thanks, Donna
cheerpeople
Original Author
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Boca Joe- funny! thanks for the smirk:;)

BTW marquest says he uses leaves, a cheap diaper (like a hydrogel- for moisture 'cause he's gone for 2 week stretches) and then half compost and half Miracle gro potting soil.

Donna- I should have been more clear on #6- it's about leaving canna outside in teh winter. The summer is fine- canna love heat. And in our zone the more heat and sunshine- the better. Maybe you'll get hummingbirds this year. I did when I planted my first canna!

BTW someone is sending me a box of special canna. It should come tomorrow. I am so excited! It is supposed to be types that have 'all that' in the foliage department and EZ-Stow for winter. <: .. beaming from ear to>Karen
donnann
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Karen, thank you for your reply. I can't wait to see a hummer. I put the feeder out yesterday. These Canna are supposed to grow up to 9 ft. tall. If it happens, the hummers won't be able to miss them :)
don_brown
19 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This is all sounding so complicated. I only grew cannas a few times and all i did was stick them in the ground, fertilize and water them and watch them grow. they got big and flowered. Do i really have to be paying attention to all this hi-tech stuff? Maybe i'm doing it all wrong and the cannas are growing despite what I do....I dunno.
marquest
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
No Don nothing hi-tech. I put them in a pot fertilize and water and let them grow.

The difference is I bring the pots inside for the winter. Then in May repeat the above fert, water, watch them grow.

I cannot leave my cannas in the ground. Did a test in areas and they did not come back. If your cannas survive in your area skip the bring in part. I have some that were gifts and are special to me so I am not willing to just leave them out to die. The pots work for me.
Bekkoula
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have wonderfull canna beds, with HUGES healthy cannas and striking flowers when I use cocoa shells as mulch.

The cocoa shells slowly decomposes and it seems cannas love that kind of nutrition.

Bekkoula
cheerpeople
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bekkoula,
Hmmm. Maybe I'll have to look into that. I've thought them a little pricey but maybe they are worth it.
Thx for the tip.
UPDATE:

Well I tried a minigreenhouse with one of my 'sacrificial' canna that was about 18" tall. Even surrounded with plastic sheeting (in a giant tomato cage 3ftX 5 ft) on the sides and top did not spare it from the record lows. We had 2 nights 22-30 degrees F and the top growth has now browned.

The potted canna in the shed have stopped growing- only half have a sprout. Perhaps the basement - tho darker- might have been better at 60F then the unheated shed this time of year.
Karen
marquest
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Mine were in the basement until we hit 70s then we got cold down to the 30s. I brought them back in the basement. The growth slowed but they look good.

I did not take them out until after Memorial Day last year but we were so warm I got stupid. Will not do the double drag next year. LOL!!! Memorial Day is our last frost date so I will stick with that date.
cheerpeople
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You know some don't take well to this potting thing.
I must have watered them too much. as I repotted them to the larger pots (5 gallon buckets with drain holes)
I noticed that all my red king humbert where fine- no rot
Some of my bengal tiger showed rot
many of my tropicanna showed rot.

Since I had many tubers under the same conditions
I'd have to say- they are not all created equal on tolerance to a too wet pot- which i thought was actually too dry.
Lesson learned- keep 'em all potted drier than you'd think for the preleaf stage.

If you've noticed similar fussiness of certain varieties do share...
Karen
shiollie
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, I suppose I can contribute a bit, I live in Zone 5 Southwest Michigan and my cannas can get out of control.. for example.. I did not want to lose them last year so I brought them inside for the winter, unfortuantly(sp) I have many cats who love the fresh dirt for a litterbox.. hubby finally got tired of that and tossed them all on the berm pile in mid Feb.. guess what.. they are all growing great guns now and I mean he just dumped the pots, we have the flower buds forming now. I baby them and they will grow and he abuses them and they take off like they were on fire!
lynn_d
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This is my 4th year for the cannas, I plant them in large containers and really never gave them much thought. I have Tropicanna, Wyoming, Richard Moore, Madame Butterfly and 2 others I can't think of right now. Each fall they get whacked down and drug into the garage where they are stacked in a back room for the winter. When I notice them sprouting I drag them up to the dining room french doors (well actually DH does) and I start watering them. Same with the elephant ears, right now the cannas are about 18" tall. They need divided every other year....this is NOT one of them, thank heaven! We should have blooms in a few weeks, Trop is setting buds.
hairmetal4ever
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
While starting off indoors the soil temp was 68. They've been outside in pots a couple weeks now, and they are now taking off-the soil warms to 88-90 during the day and even at 6am is still around 73-77.
cheerpeople
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hairmetal, (was is hairmetal?)

I've been bad at keeping track of temps. I'm glad you did.

Oh hail!
We had marble sized hail and voilent winds. All the canna top growth has been sliced and diced. So I'm back to 6" or so of growth! The elephant ear look terrible. I'd take off all the damaged foliage but then they'd be naked.

My plastic loveseat was broken and tumbled at least 100 ft. My new black bamboo is the clear winner right now- standing at 4 ft of new growth and came thru the storm fine. I might have a new favorite tropical....

BTW I hope you guys are keeping your eyes out for the 2 big bad canna viruses that are coming out of nursery stock and being ignorantly or shamelessly sold. They can infect your other healthy canna. Be careful about new additions to your collections. It is suggested to grow new canna seperately until you are sure there is no suspicious spotting /streaking of the foliage. I'm not an expert on this but I've seen enough email/articles on the topic to be wary.

karen
cheerpeople
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well it's time for the results of my potting up the canna for earlier bloom- experiment.

I noticed the plain green leaf with red flowers- planted in the ground-- these cannas started blooming in this part of the world (illinois- zone 5) in mid July.

I don't plant this kind anymore - mine must be later to bloom by nature- but the first to bloom were given a head start in the windowsill of my home and then PLANTED IN THE DIRT- NOT LEFT POTTED UP are...'Florence Vaughn' and 'Louis Cottin'- both bloomed the week of the 20th of July.

Of the 9 varieties potted up this spring (which did not get the windowsill treatment) AND HAVE CONTINUED IN POTS - the first to bloom will be 'Cleopatra'- in a few days-

So....

I guess I can conclude that some varieties (like common ones) bloom sooner than others.

Potting things to keep the roots warmer does not jump start them as much as I thought as the two varieties I started in the house then threw in the ground (had the advantage of even house temps at first) were the first to bloom, not the 9 varieties I potted up and left in pots!

Remember the theory here was that cannas would bloom sooner in pots because the pot would have warmer soil than the soil in the garden.

Now that I've gone to the trouble of the pots- I'm just going to continue with it- NOT because it is faster to bloom but it is less trouble to move pots than dig it all in/ out every year.

I'm sure your findings may vary.

Feel free to share what bloomed first and when and your technique!

Karen
marquest
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Karen you have been great at keeping up. I had blooms the second week of July. They were Cleopatra, Intrigue, Tropicanna. We had a cool Spring so my plants were pushed back by three weeks,

I noticed the plants I divided or Re-planted to larger pots also bloomed later. As I said I grow all my Cannas in Pots no drainage. They are constantly moist planted in my own compost and Miracle grow soil bloom booster ferts every 2 wks.

Cleo is into her second flush of bloom.

My ground Experiment was President, It has not bloomed yet. It does not even have a bud. It is almost rhe same size I planted. LOL!! Needless to say I will not be planting anymore Cannas in the ground. But I am not going to dig it out. This will be a Hardy Experiment
cheerpeople
Original Author
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have 24 containers of canna remaining. 11 of them have yet to produce their first bloom. It is now 9/8/5. Ones that have not yet bloomed include:
'wisley dwarf,' the world's smallest canna-
Red Dazzler
Maudie Malcolm
Turckheimii

LMK if the link won't work

thx karen

Here is a link that might be useful: potted canna- 6 pics May- Aug
don_brown
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well, I stuck my rhizomes in pots, watered them every day and that was pretty much it. No fertilizer since the end of July. Most of them ar 7 feet tall and blooming like crazy. I think the whole trick is not to fuss with them. Mine are the most neglected cannas in the world. I think they bloom just to get attention! Even the ones that were started from seed are blooming! I think I may stop growing anything else and stick to cannas...perfect for a lazy shmuck like me!
marquest
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
cheerpeople, are the ones that have not bloomed new this year?

I have no idea why your plants rotted. I have no drainage and never have rot. Maybe because mine have roots and leaves when they go outside. I have all you have except wisley dwarf and Turckheimii. All mine bloomed at least three times this year it was really hot and sunny.

I hate to sound like a broken record but I have no drainage I fill up the pot until the water is on top like a pond and take off for the week. When I return the pot was bone dry.
mandruch
18 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
6. No matter how close to the foundation ( microclimate) you plant any canna if left outside in zone 5 is a dead canna.

I have proven this to be false, by accident. I planted some cannas on the hot side of the house, near the foundation, and forgot to dig them up. They came up for the third year in a row with out being dug up, in zone 5! I don't even mulch them. Go figure...:)
donna504
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When you said that you left the cannas in their pots and let them grow again does that mean that they are growing in the same soil from the previous year? Mine are busting at the seams in their pot now and Im sure there is little soil left.
cheerpeople
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Well,
It's year later. I trimmed my collection of 18 down to 3 types of canna that I love the most. Tropicanna, Bengal tiger and Louis Cottin.

Donna, you are right if they stay in the same pot they exhaust the space and soil needs refreshing. So keeping 'em potted still requires unpotting. lol!

I tried Marquests idea and used an antique wash tub with no drain holes this year. I also put the same variety in the ground. The ones in the ground had better moisture, as I let the ones in the container go too dry. Oops! My fault. Anyway the ones in the ground bloomed til frost, the ones in the container that got dry quit a month earlier. Marquest you are a sweety - I appreciated your advice.

Mandruch, I'm so glad you had them overwinter. I'm also a tad jealous!

This years canna experiments included:
1.Can they overwinter in an unheated shed. Answer "no"
2.And does seed grown Louis Cottin look identical to the parent. Answer "Yes!"
3. Is it a bad idea to put canna in a vase shaped ceramic pot? "yes" it takes a machette and a lot of hacking to remove it once it's potbound!

I suppose it would be fair to say that what happens in my garden doesn't have to happen in yours. Your results may vary. I hope they vary in a happy way!

New musings would include" Why do bees appear to sleep overnight IN the canna blooms? Shouldn't they go to the hive?

and

Where do the tree frogs come from that live on the canna? How do they overwinter?
Hmmm....always more to learn....

Karen
bearstate
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Interesting thread.

I'm not in zone 5 and so my Canna behave differently. But I do appreciate threads where people report their observations. I've only been doing the gardening hobby for little more than a year now and I tend to take a scientific tack to it, noting things like leaf rolling and leaf folding behavior, etc. How certain things stimulate or limit growth, height, length of leaves and so forth is always of interest.

That folks in colder zones root up and store their Canna Tubers and Banana Corms is something I don't find necessary in zone 9. And I am surprised that Mike Jarmillo ( Banana Forum ) has so many Banana growing in Chicago. His posts are quite amazing as I know, since I grew up in Chicago and wouldn't imagine Bananas being a plant for the back yard there. While Banana and Canna are related, they are not the same. Banana of course, are bigger plants. Folks can wrap Banana in place outdoors in tubing or pile leaves around them to keep them warm and even growing overwinter. Canna lovers might want to read some of the Banana threads as the plants do have similarities and shared gardening problems. Though not quite the same, the contrast of issues and resolutions might be revealing to you.

Keep reporting those observations. They are of interest.
marquest
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
cheerpeople, I was thinking about you when I was looking at the Canna forum this summer. Good to see you are still growing and experimenting.

I am down to 10 from the 25 I started with. I had to make room for the gingers, bananas, and Brugmansias. I drag those pots in also. LOL

The issue of out growing the pot is true. I have been in a hurry and did not get around to replanting when I brought them out in the summer, Goodness that was a job I had to destroy that pot.
cheerpeople
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Marquest.

Hiya! I'm curious what 10 types where your favorite that you kept? LMK

Yes I too have fallen in love with other tropicals that get big or tall. That is why my canna got reduced too.

I'm into elephant ear odora. Got 5 ft tall and a 36 inch leaf. It multiplies well and is able to be in full sun to full shade.

Ornithogalum saundersai got 5'6" tall in bloom and mulitiplies from bulb or seed.

Amorphophallus konjac is so cool. 3 ft tall 4 ft leaf.Full sun to quite a bit of shade. I love the flowers too. What else makes a flower the size of my face after growing 3 inches a day!?

Papyrus- now 6 ft tall and looking good as a houseplant for winter.

There are sooo many nice- big- tall- tropical- options!
What are your biggest and tallest tropicals? No fair if you have a longer summer and live zone 6 or above;-)

ANOTHER truth 10 or 11!

Ohh I almost forgot the JUICY tidbit. You know the wives tale about needing to leave canna until after frost to dig? That never made sense to me so I asked a guy with a phD in horticulture and at the top of his game in a big plant company, if the tuber really benefits from waiting until frost...... and he said "NO" You see not much travels down a blackened with frost plant to aid the tuber. Another canna myth revealed:)

He said what DID matter was that the canna wounds had a time to dry in a shed etc before winter storage to minimize rot developing.

Karen

For some reason I can't get all 20 pics ( just a sub album) with this link- so click' album' and then you can see all 20 hopefully even Louis cottin .
marquest
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have kept These were kept because of the leaf
Cleopatra
Bengal Tiger
Tropicanna
Intrigue
Stuttgart
Wyoming
Black Knight

For flower and just big leaves in general
Tropical Sunrise
Aida
Miss Oklahoma

If you want big fast and fragrant flowers you need to get into the brugmansias, Canna Intrigue gets 6' so does my Stuttgart Canna. Those are my tallest. Big leaves are the EE's Black Magic, ALOCASIA LONGILOBA, ALOCASIA ILLUSTRIS, Alocasia macrorrhiza and Plumerias.

As you can see I have gone over the edge tropical. LOL!!! At the moment my laundry room is a jungle.

By the way I agree that wait for frost to bring down the cannas. I am
larry_c
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
6. No matter how close to the foundation ( microclimate) you plant any canna if left outside in zone 5 is a dead canna

Excuse me Karen, But my twin brother has a patch of cannas right next to his house here in St. Louis. Never digs them. Covers them with some old boards and leafs. They have been there for years. Kinda shoots s hole in that belief.

As far as warming the ground I have great luck with pinning clear polyethylene film over the area that I am going to plant in and place it back after I plant in mid April until it gets warm. This is a tatic that I use for my veggie gardeing. Just like a long row cover except the plastic really heats the area up!!

And one last thing. I grow my prise cannas year around.Especially those that I want more of or I am going to share. After I divide them they go into dirt in the basement and are allowed to grow. I cut the tops as needed for space and let the bulbs get bigger !!! Other basic bulbs do get dry stored in peat moss.

CrAzY LaRrY
marquest
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Larry you are not crazy. My next door neighbor has had A canna patch in front of her house and never dig they come back every year. I think it is President. I am a zone 5-6. So I know it is possible.

Beleive me she does not protection or fertilizing. They were planted by the previous owners and she is not a gardener.
ottawa_basjoo_z5a
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi everyone, here in my canada zone 5a i have left my canna's outside next to the foundation, they come up every year.. i have pictures at www.webshots.com search for Ottawa_hardy_tropicals
cheerpeople
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Ottawa!
Nice pics there. I see you even got New Zealand flax to fill out. Mine just sat there ( sniff!) How did you overwinter that? I'm glad you and Marquest can or know people who can overwinter it outside! It doesn't work here. I don't have all the cement around like you do.
Thx for the link to your shots! It looks tropical.

That reminds me I recently took some shots of tropicals and storage here. I'll include the link at the bottom.

Marquest, Wonder if you are still here? I did pot up some canna in pots and moved them around not to grow bigger but to fill in a lonely spot. The potted ones for the most part didn't bloom and stayed quite short, so 'Tropicanna' was a foliage "Wow!" more than ' Louis Cottin'
The canna roots would grow out the drain holes and into the dirt if left in one spot for a while! I rarely watered them. We had a wet season. To keep them from tipping in the wind I broke a brick to fit in the bottom of the pot. Kind of a paperweight!

If you open the pics there are captions explaining how I store my tropicals.
FWIW
I lost all my 'Bengal Tiger' Canna last winter and had to borrow some back from my sister in CA. Another downer is it really is a sunburn sensitive plant. I was very careful with the hose but still had brown sunburn spots on the leaves.
Perhaps due to a cooler summer the Louis Cottin rarely bloomed.

Beetles eat the canna flowers on all my varieties. Im reluctant to use pesticide because the hummingbirds and gray tree frogs do visit my canna.

I'm narrowing down my canna favorite list to this one- 'Tropicanna'
If you only get one- that's the one I recommend. At least you get months of unspotted foliage and late summer half chewed blooms!

thx again for the pics link, Ottawa

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/cheerpeople/tropical%20plants%20in%20zone5/?action=view&current=IMG_4656.jpg
this is canna tropicanna this year. Not sure if the image will open here- if not it's in the link below.
v1rt
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi ottawa_basjoo_z5a,

I really can't believe your cannas does make it every year even without digging them. I have a Bengal Tiger in a pot and one didn't make it. This is even inside the house(67F). I dug the rhizome yesterday because it was starting to sag. I'm lucky that the rhizome still looks good. However, the other rhizome, it's rotten.

Are you sure it's canna? What type of canna is it? What zipcode are you in?

Thanks!
Melanie Komenkul
8 years ago
Do you think they'd survive in my tuff shed in zone 5? I've lost them in the crawl space the past few years. I haven't tried the peat moss yet. Do I spray it wet? How wet should it be?
Mary Retter
8 years ago
Thanks so much -- i just put some in this year and need more info.. great info..
djrunyon
7 years ago
I live in zone 5 and grow King Humpert giant cannas next to the house foundation on the south side. They are mulched with wood chips and have been growing undesturbed for 8 years. I, too discovered that they overwinter by accident after digging them 3 years in a row, only to discover new leaves unfurling from the ground in May, from a missed tuber. Now I do mulch with an extra thick 10 inch layer of wood chips and straw, piled over a 2 inch thick foam insulation board. I fertilize in the spring, and they faithfully reappear each year and bloom from early July to frost. Going to try some dwarf types in large pots this year.
Nicole Marie
7 years ago
Hmm I just dump the bulbs in the ground in the sunny beds in May and after first frost dig the whole thing up then throw the bulbs into buckets and put wherever in the house that's dark. Then forget about them and repeat the throwing back into the beds bit. They grow and bloom beautiful and attract hummingbird migration in end of summer. I didn't realize there was a process lol. Zone 5B they won't survive the winter but I still plant in the ground every year. I've got the red flowers deep purple leaves one that grow over six ft tall.
lady_alicia Zone 5/6 PA
7 years ago
I've stored Cannas, Polianthis, Spider Lilies, Criniums, Elephant's Ear and Peacock Orchids all in the same manner for years, and they've all done great. I dig them up, let them dry out good, throw them in brown paper bags, and place them in my partially-heated garage for the winter. No peat moss, no nothing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I wait until the middle of May to place them in my flower pots and ground.
Linda's Garden z6 Utah
7 years ago
Hi Popmama! I see you like canna as well as hosta and so do I! I haven't grown canna in several years and I am thinking of getting some more this year. I have a few questions if you don't mind. Do you only grow in pots? Do you use the bubble wrap because it is too cold in your garage? My garage never freezes although sometimes it does get kinda close. Also what is the purpose of the brown paper? I assume it is to keep the plant in the dark during the winter.

I love your canna trolley idea! That would certainly make moving the pots so much easier.

What varieties do you have in those pots? I would love to see pics of them in bloom. It looks like your pots are pretty full so the plants must be gorgeous when they are blooming!

Thanks for your input!

Linda
popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
7 years ago
Linda,

Thank you for asking. Yes, I confess. I love cannas. In my climate, there are only a few people I know that can leave them in the ground year round and I consider them magicians with microclimates. The rest of us must store them over winter somehow. I prefer not to dig mostly out of laziness.

You are exactly right about the bubble pack and brown paper. Brown paper for darkness and bubble pack to provide some insulation since my garage is not heated.

Once they all green up, I will pull out all the brown dead leaves from last year and clean them up. In late May, they will be able to stay outside all day. For now, the canna trolley it is. I also gave them some kelp water about every 3rd water. And this year, I gave them a sprinkle of milorganite because I read that it can give you huge cannas.

I don't know all the variety names that I have. I never really kept track. I do know that I have Bengal Tiger which I bought last year and a yellow one called Harvest Yellow. I actually found that out by posting on this forum which was so fun!

I have a red one, a hot pink one, and I have a dwarf variety as well. The pots are pretty full and I should probably divide. I did divide the yellow one last fall so I'm waiting to see how that turned out before dividing others.

I don't have the best pictures of mine, but promise to try to get better photos this year.

Harvest Yellow - photo taken August 2016 (this one blooms really late)
Linda's Garden z6 Utah
7 years ago
Popmama, Thanks for the info! I do have a microclimate on the side of my house and I have gladiolas and agapanthus growing there for years now. Too bad there isn't more room for some cannas. I think they would probably be okay there. So instead I spent the day making a new raised garden in the backyard which is going to be my little tropical oasis. I ordered some cannas from Horn Farms and I probably will buy some locally too. I am also going to try another Musa Basjoo Banana plant in this garden. I used to have one that I overwintered in the ground for several years but then I lost it due to rot. I am hoping that the new raised bed will help with that problem. I am also going to try some cannas in pots too. I have used Milorganite on the banana and cannas that I used to have and it really does make them grow like crazy!

Your Harvest Yellow plant is beautiful! Can't wait to see your pics later in the summer!
Bonita from Los Angeles G
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Looking for Pink Sunburst Canna- anyone want to trade???
Virginia Andersen
3 years ago
, can a . color, ?
Erin Longmier
3 years ago
I left my cannas in a Rubbermaid tub with top off for months in the basement. In February I put the top on to make room for other things. I opened the tub today and found THIS!!!!! Can I plant them now???
HU-592126203
2 years ago
I put my cannas in big planters last year and forgot to take out the lid on the draining hole. I didn't realize they were basically sitting in water (from rain) all summer. The were going crazy, blooming like crazy, lots of new bulbs. I think more water is better! It's the middle of may here now and I am hesitant on when to take them out or up from the basement for that matter. I only got them last year and this is my first attempt ever to bring them back to life so to speak. Cross your fingers for me!