You would have more luck getting them started inside. You would not need a big pot just something big enough for them to fit in until they start growing. The warmer they are the faster they will start to grow. Our houses are usually warmer that 50-60 degrees. You want the soil to be damp, to get them started. In the summer most of my cannas if grown in full sun can be grown in bog condition which is soupy wet conditions. If you can get them growing good before May you can get flowers as early as July. This bloom time also depends on which canna you have. Some of mine bloom faster than others. Because our summers are so short I buy the cannas with colorful leaves and do not worry about the flowers. Some of the flowers really are not that spetacular or pretty anyway.

What is "topsoil"? The definition I find says "topsoil" is the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace, and may be something worth the money or not. Most all good soil I have seen is composed of 95 percent of the mineral (the sand, silt, clay) particles that make up soil and about 5 percent organic matter so since the soil you have is already largely made up of the mineral particles just add the needed organic material, build a Lasagna bed on that soil and do not be concerned about "leveling" it out. Pat Lanza developed the concept of Lasagna gardening and this link takes you to her web site about it. http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm kimmq is kimmsr

If that area is hard, it may just be ok. Keep you're eye on it of course. Time will tell, but I wouldn't do anything right now. This damage could have happened years ago and the plant healed itself. It helps if cactus have some size to them when things like this happen. A little cactus would just turn to mush and die, but the bigger guys cork and scab over:).

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