Pippi, I tried finding an answer to your question. First, I have to ask you a question. Do the tubers have roots or any growth? Toni

LOL LIl, I was wondering the same thing.. Dog,anytime you grow a plant in the garden, then decide to relocate, there's going to be problems digging up..I've done this several times and broke roots..especially those that grew way down in the earth..Not to mention fine roots. If he digs carefully, even though some roots will break, your Bird should be okay..it may take time to adjust, but w/proper care will return to its previous state. Toni

I got my cannas from my mother. They are now nearly 40 years old. I grew up in Michigan watching her dig them up every year. After about 30 years I'd say she finally perfected a simple process with very nearly a 100% survival rate. This is what you do- First off, we had an attached garage. (if you don't, there are options) My father ran a furnace duct into it to give it just one heat vent. This kept the 3-car garage above 40* all Winter. Perfect for the cannas. If a heated garage is not an option, I've heard of people building insulated boxes with light bulbs and such instead. Personally, I would just rescue an old refrigerator from a landfill and put a common heating pad in it. Or a bird bath heater, or I might bypass the light switch in the door so it's own light never goes off. Whatever. Just keep them above 40*. Well she would dig them up, rinse off all the soil and dip them in a common fungicidal solution available in most nurseries. She also bought a cheap paper shredder that sits over the waste basket at her desk. She not only has way too much fun with it, she found that shredded junk mail and news paper was better than peat moss, mulch, or soil for storing bulbs and tubers. It's also free. She put the bulbs in layers of shredded paper inside stacks of milk crates. She liked her bulbs to be at least the size of her foot before she would consider dividing. The bigger the bulb, the bigger the plant would be. She also hung a spray bottle of mostly water with a little garden fungicide on the stack of crates. She would mist them all down every few weeks or whenever she thought about it. Just to keep it all about as moist as a pile of leaves on a forest floor. Not soggy. Humid. The latticed milk crates and shredded paper offered plenty of air circulation while her infrequent spraying kept them moist and mildew-free. Each Spring they came out looking as if they had just been dug up the day before, plump, shiny and purple. The large foot-sized bulbs always grew into plants that were 7-9 feet tall, several inches above the gutters. (Miracle Gro, hint-hint)

read that Miracle Grow will kill this tree Absolutely NO basis to this 'supposed fact'! There is nothing mysterious or magic about MG's forumulation that would make it toxic to Japanese maples. And plants don't care from what source their nutrients are derived - synthetic chemical (like the MG) or from completely organic sources, it's all the same to them. FWIW, I grow almost my entire collection of JM's in containers and they get fertilized frequently with Miracle Gro (or similar "blue water" fert). They do get topdressed in spring with Osmocote, as well as when freshly planted or replanted, but receive supplemental liquid ferts during the growing season as do all my other plants grown in containers. The only concern one might have is that JM foliage is very sensitive and they dislike anything other water on their leaves, even liquid fertilizers or pesticides. Can cause a phytotoxic reaction and damage the foliage. But certainly not kill the tree. That's just a load of hooey!!