Cannas

[Ann B.]

This is my first Canna bloom of the season.

[Rebecca]

Nice red, Ann!

Reminds me that I need to bring mine up from the basement and put it in the pond so it can get growing. Mine is a Dwarf apricot colored one. It was already in growth when I put it out last year and I decided to try it in the pond, well it did pretty good until the Japanese Beetles got to it.. Don't have fish in the "pond" so will treat the canna with the Bayer All-In-One. I expect there will be some seepage into the pond, but it will eventually end up in the plants so guess it really doesn't matter. Put my water lily out a few weeks ago, but no signs of growth yet. The Iris vesicolor I potted and put in a couple of weeks ago seems very content so next to go in (besides the canna) will be the Japanese Iris, I know it will love it! Will need to scrounge up a couple of concrete blocks to raise the plants high enough, but that shouldn't be too hard to do.

I usually put a wire shelf over the pond and put seedlings on it, but not this year as I want all the "water garden plants" to have room and get enough light to do well.

I' get pictures once everything is in it and growing well.

Rebecca

[Ann B.]

I probably have about 10 or more different varieties of cannas. All of them are dwarf because I gave away all of the tall red ones that take over too fast.

Many of the ones I have had to be dug up after Rita so that the heavy equipment could get where it needed to go to remove debris. Now, they are in pots, and I thought they were dead earlier this summer when it was so dry.

Now that we are getting rain, they are growing wondefully and more and more are blooming. The bed where they were once located is filled with grass and weed (dirt replaced with red clay, yuk!). When it cools down a bit, I guess I'm going to have to use round-up, then preen so that they can return to their home.

Cannas are easy, even for a sub-tropical. You plant them in the spring, keep them watered, dig them up after the first frost (I don't have to -- I know I am spoiled), let them air dry, then store them in plastic bags in a cool, dark place until spring. Then, you do it all over again....

I'm looking forward to getting them back in the garden, to stay! That is, until they need to be divided, and I will have MORE!

Love those cannas! Had some pretty blooms today, but they were too wet to photo....