I clean mine first with a rag dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove any wax or oil,then paint with spray paint.You could probably use paint thinner instead of alcohol but I have had no problems with the alcohol.

crsliz, I think there are as many ways people store their Cannas as there are Cannas. I grow most of mine in pots and I bring the pots and all in to the basement after the frost takes the leaves down. I give the soil a good washing with the hose. The Temp in the basement is between 50 -60 degrees. There is very little light. I water my pots about a 8 oz glass of water once a month, Just enough so they do not dry out. They start to sprout in March and I usually can put a good size growing plant outside at the end of May. You have to experiment and see what works for you. I just do not have time to dig up plants so any tender plants I grow are grown in pots and are used on the Patio, and Deck.

frankleylnnsie I believe you are writing about "suckers" not sports.. Is it another small clump of leaves, what looks like a little plant growing from the stem or from the junction of the leaf and stem? That is a "sucker." If any bloom, either from the main plant or a sucker, is radically different from the normal bloom on that plant, it is a "sport." Leafs can also "sport" with variegation or shape. It is a radical variation on a plant or from a leaf set of a plant. Sports are rare. Some plants, particularly the bi-colors, will bloom solid white in cool weather. Variegated leafs will be greener or even solid green in warm weather. Those are not Sports. That is variable color caused by cultural or environmental conditions. Sports are stable. If you have suckers, you can remove them at any time, either by flicking them off with a tool such as a pencil or you can let them grow, removing them when you repot. You can separate the suckers when you repot, pot them up separately. Those suckers usually will grow into plants identical to the mother. Suckers do not trailers make. Trailers are a specific type of violet. Suckers make very mess looking plants. Suckers do sap the mother plant. Suckers are unlikely to kill the mother but at some point in time suckers should be removed. That picture I posted shows the small clump of leafs known as "sucker" on the lower left. The leaves are small and don't fit into the rosette shape of the mother plant. I need to separate 5+ suckers from the mother plant but I have been waiting for the Mother to stop blooming. As anyone can see, the suckers haven't quite discouraged the mother plant yet. I have been waiting a while. I am letting it grow that way on purpose.

Do I need to put any sort of spray sealant on the plates/pots/vases I am using for my totem? I've spray painted a couple of small terra cotta pots to use and I know I need to seal those - just don't know how regular ceramic/glass fares outside.