A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Cannas,

We recently moved to a duplex (yes we rent).
In the front part of the yard is a 2ft by 6ft plot of Cannas.
They seem to do very well there however, at the same time I noted that the blooms appeared rather small.
I dont; want to do a lot of work to them as I am not staying a long time here, However, I decided to do the following.
I am going to cut them back in October (zone 8b) and I already have given them an abundance of plant food.
Then after I cut them back I thought I would put some straw over them as a protection and also a sort of mulch.
What do you folks think of that?
Thanks so much.

Sounds good to me. They also like lots of water, so next year I would keep them well hydrated.

are they crowded and in need of thinning out?

Thank you alankhart.

Porter: yes they are and I have thinned them out already some. I plan on cutting them way back in October and do more thinning.

Thank you both,
cinquefoil

I just let the frost zap mine& snip off the old foliage.durring warm spells they'll try to sprout after 1st of year.I don't mulch mineI'm Z 8b Tyler Co

I was wondering why you want to cut them down as well. I don't think it is necessary. I did it to mine last year and not one rhyzome survived. Not the ones I left on the ground or the ones that I lifted. So I would definitely let them die back naturally. That way you know they have stored enough energy to grow next year.

I've done the same as njoynit. I let the winter temps "kill" them back, then we just take the lawn mower (if needed) to them until spring. We continue to mow over them until we see sprouts. Then once we see the sprouts we stop mowing over them, and start mowing around them. The darn rhizomes can't be killed off for me.

I actually transplanted some, but didn't like them in the new location, and had the hardest time getting rid of them because my hubby took the tiller to the bed thinking chopping them to itty bitty pieces would kill them...IT DIDN'T!!! And so I spent weeks digging up the sprouts from the (literally) 1/2 inch shreds.

Our winters don't get too cold, and every spring our cannas come back bigger than ever. They do multiply like rabbits. The mulch will help them along in the spring. I'm in z8b-9a. (Lafayette)

Good luck!

The size of the bloom is not due to food. Some have large flowers some small. You have short, medium and tall Cannas. There are green leaves, stripe leaves (green, yellow, white), Variegated leaves, Red leaves and many variation inbetween.

If you look at my photo albun you will see I have several different cannas.

I grow most of mine in pots because they are not hardy in my zone except one. It is the one with small red flowers with tall green leaves. It is the only Canna I do not like. LOL!!!

Since you are renting I would buy plant some flowering seeds that have a lot of red blooms and it would accent the canna when it blooms.