A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 CANNA BULBS.........HOW 2 DO THEM??

HUNTING INFORMATION ON CANNA BULBS..

I JUST PLANTED 3 ORANGE ONES.....DO PESTS EAT THE flowers? LIKE BEATLES? I AM ASSUMING THEY MUST BE LIFTED AND STORED IN THAT FALL IN zone 5?

TELL ME HOW .

THANKS FOLKS .

DODGE

Hi Dodge
I pot up my Canna's usually at the end of March and that gets them growing. After the risk of frost is over (May 24 here) I plant them in the garden. After the frost has killed the leaves in the fall I dig them back up and store them in a cool dark place. I've never had any problems with pests on my Canna's.

ditto what netty said.
I'd just like to add that I stored mine in peat, in a cardboard box in a closet in the basement. Started them up again about a month ago, and they are growing strong in 5 gallon pots.

NETTY
plants,

THANKS.BUT EEK i PLANTED MINE IN THE OUTSIDE YESTERDAY.....IT SAID plant NOW.. HOWEVER IF IT POPS UP I plant TO COVER THEM.

THANKS..GUESS N.Y. IS CLOSE TO MY 5 zone TEMP. I HOPE TO DO THAT COME FALL..PUT A MESSAGE OUT IN THE FALL TO REMIND ME.......
PERHAPS GARDEN HELPER CAN MAKE A NEW CATAGORY?/
HINT HINT HINT ......

DODGE ;O)

I hope you gave them plenty of room. I was suprised at how they multiple even in one year.

Cannas are really tough, Dodge. Even after they sprout, they'll survive a little frost...even if the tops get burned a little from frost, they'll resprout and do fine!

peppereater,

Gees thanks....

Now these are orange, an said they bloom all summer? Are there other colors?
How wide do they spread?

Dodge

They come in varieties of red, yellow and orange, and yes, they bloom all summer!
Some get about 3 feet tall, some over 6 feet!
I think you're supposed to plant 2 or 3 together, and they'll make a clump about a foot or more wide, and you'll have tons of new roots to dig in the early winter.
In zone 7, I leave mine in the ground...If you don't get them all when you dig, and you have a mild winter, they'll be sprouting up for you next year!

Try and find some of the tropicana canna if you can. Talk about some of the pretties foliage you ever want to see on a canna these are it. They are multi-colored stripes. You don't even have to wait for them to bloom to have great looking plants. I have them on my wish list as you can tell. I forgot who has one but someone posted a picture of one last year and I've been mad for them every since.

Peppereater,
Wee if your zone 7 and I am zone 5 , it should work for me.........thanks.. Sometime i get lazy to dig .........

tkhooper and peppereater......Now some one sent me canna seeds from california.. Hard to open. I am soaking them in water and see 2 sprouts.. First i filed them with a callus file, to get to the insides????
Are these the same family????//They just said canna
Thanks groupies.

dodge

yep you can do them from seeds. It just takes longer for them to become a plant.

one thing about cannas though. slugs LOVE the leaves... :p

jiffymouse,

slugs love the leaves........An I dont drink beer.. They say put a dish out for them......They better leave the bulbs alone.

dodge

so far they have left my bullbs alone, just ate the leaves!

I used broken up egg shells around my hosta to detour the slugs. So far it seems to be working. Maybe it would work for the canna too?

Dodge...I didn't mean to say that they'd always survive in the ground, just in a mild winter. You should dig some up after a frost and save them for spring!

tk,

It is worth a try.. Hd eats eggs everyday..

Maybe it keeps them busy.. Never had a problem with hosta..

dodge.

Wow, this is fascinating folks. It is so interesting to see how the same plants do in different parts of the country (or world for that matter).

Cannas down here in Texas is one of the 'plants even you can't kill'. You stick em in the ground and leave em. After a couple of years, you go in with a pick axe and try to thin them out and bribe your friends to take some (while they are trying to get you to take theirs). They grow with almost no water, in almost solid shade, full sun and and anything in between. They come in yellows and pinks and reds and come in regular and dwarf. They are great at camoflaging sheds and piles of pots and garden debris you didn't get around to throwing away.

For variety, you can put in the ones with the striped leaves (like Tropicana), because it gives them flavor. And you can put the dwarf ones in front of the others and they will all bloom all summer and all fall over together in the fall and make lovely mulch. Slugs don't seem to like mine, so go figure. (Picky slugs).

MORNINGLORI,

YOR A DOWNRIGHT SHOWOFF.........;O)

HA HA YEP TEXAS IS BIG ON flowers.. RIGHT NOW I OWN TEXAS SAGO PALM, MEXICAN PETUNIAS , TEXAS GINGER .......OK SPEAKING OF GINGER.. IT ISNT EATABLE IS IT?/ mINE IS 2 FOOT TALL, INSIDE THE HOUSE.. I KEPT IT IN THE BASEMENT ALL WINTER. NOW IT IS AT IT AGAIN.. LADY FROM TEXAS GAVE ME THEM AND LOTS OF cactus......ALL GREW .. INSIDE.HA HA.......YES I AM TRULY AMAZED.. HOWEVER IT ALL DEPENDS WHERE ONE LIVES AND LOVES.

DODGE

Just curious about you filing the canna seeds then soaking them. Is it because it helps to break down the outer shell which is probably quite thick.

I have been trying to plant by seed in my garden and have not been to sucessful. How do you know when to do this? Should you soak all seeds first before planting and how do you know when to file them?

Usually the large seeds you knick a little with a knife and soak them over night.. I tried several different things this year, and the best was to let my large moonflower seeds set in warm water for several days.. I kept changing the water and kept filling it with warm water till they sprouted and put them in the dirt... It was the best way I found to get the best yield of my big seeds..

Thanks spring fever... it never dawned on me to soak any seeds, it actually makes alot of sense and probably speeds up the growing process. Maybe that is why most of my seeds never materialize...

I too just planted some Moonflower seeds just a few days ago. Just wish I could remember where I planted them.

Note to self-be sure to buy plant markers!!LOL

Hey spring fever, just curious as to what state you are in? Would like to see the difference between how our moonflowers sprout up.

I planted some last weekend at my husbands place in Ohio and just this week here in Toronto.

NEWBIE

i PLANTED MOONIES AWHILE AGO....iNSIDE..iSNT IT TOO EARLY FOR ANNUALS IN oHIO? We still get frost in zone 5 ......May 31 is safe to come up.

Just wondering?/ Ohio maybe warmer if they are closer to the lake.....What part of Ohio is he in? My sis lived in Cleveland.....neice in Mentor.

dodge

Massachusetts.. I planted mine about a month ago now... I didn't do the soak and only got 1 seed to sprout.. and its 4 inches tall now ... they are pretty though..
The big seeds are easier that way..I did the same with morning glories did 1 soaked and 1 not and the soaked ones are about 3 inches now and the others never sprouted!