i have maybe 20 of them. top priority goes to phaison and bengal tiger. Tho any beautifully leaved canna will do.

Not hills per se but ridges is the way I was taught. We laid out everything with a hoe, furrows and ridges. Some stuff like beans and corn went into furrows. Our squash, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes all were ridged. Not big ridges mind you like you would for potatoes but basically up one side of the row and down the other pulling dirt with the hoe then leveling it all out. Pop in a hole every 18 or so inches with the hoe drop two seeds and cover. As I get older the more I seem to be reflecting on "that's how it was always done" and I'm appreciating my own father all the more for it. My younguns have never mastered the use of the hoe and it frustrates me that they haven't. I bought a wheel hoe this year and have really enjoyed it but I find it strange to have to swap out implements to do different tasks when in the past just the hoe was needed for everything. BTW, it's rare that I'm never more than a few steps from my hoe as it rides in the back of the truck when I'm not in the garden. It was never explained to me why we did it but I assume it has the do with which plants do better with dry feet and which can tolerate water in the row.

It could be the type/variety of canna that you have. As an example, Omega is one of the tallest cannas but yet has a smallish flower. I also have some dwarf cannas that have huge flowers. Do you know what varity you have? Jenna

With the information provided there are several possibilities. Last years decreased vigor might be due to a change in the soil ph. Pine needles are great for the acid loving plants but over time will likely lower the soil ph that would result in poor growing conditions for cannas. Have you thinned to canna bed over the past couple of years? If not, the cannas likely became too thick for the available resources. Did your rhizomes freeze or was the winter ground saturated with water? Any of a number of things could contribute to the total loss of the rhizomes. Kent