Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lol... Poor jayco had no idea what he/she was starting with this thread llmao. I think I going to go make some borax/baking soda dish detergent and do a load of dishes since I'm out of dish soap and don't feel like wasting gas on a trip to the store to get more ;)

How come nobody has answered this yet?! While it may seem harmless to add only 3-4" of soil, it really is a bad idea. For one, you don't want any roots to grow upwards. Second of all, flowers planted in the root zone are going to compete with the tree for water and nutrients. And they're going to lose. So don't bother. Keep a nice open soil area for the trees, as stress free as you can make it with no nearby digging. So to answer your question, yes you should definitely be concerned with harming the trees and to limit that harm you should build your planters somewhere else. I challenge you to find one professionally designed landscape that includes flowers in the root zone of trees. You're not going to find it.

ticksmom, this is my first year having cannas survive in the ground outdoors, and I am finding the same thing as you - the sprouts are not where I expected. Since the tubers form big clumps, it would make sense that new plants would sprout from the outer edges of the clump, which is what I think I see happening outdoors. I know when I store the tubers, the outer ones seem to sprout best. As for the containerized cannas, the roots are more prone to freezing because the container is above ground and not insulated by the earth. The general guide is that a plant in a container is one to two zones less hardy than in the ground, which puts your cannas in the equivalent of a zone 6 or 5, which is iffy at best. bananananny, I'm in Westminster and I have many shoots up in the ground already - actually some have been up for a week or two. I have clay and I usually lose them to rot too, but it was a warm winter and a mild spring.

Lily of the Valley, Mixed Dutch Irises, Mixed Freesia, Stargazer Lilies, Mixed Platycodons, Calla Lilies, Mixed Lilies, and Mixed Hostas. You have a mix of annual and perennial bulbs here. You don't have to dig anything up now. Let them grow. However, in the fall what you should leave in the ground to come up and flower next season are the perennials : Dutch irises, stargazer lilies, mixed lilies, platycodons, hostas. The freesias and the calla lilies are not going to stand the winter outside, so put them in pots and bring them inside.