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Lovely Canna – over-wintering Cannas

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Canna Tropicana
Canna Tropicana

I’ve been growing Cannas in my garden for the last five years. I guess you could say I’ve been growing them ever since I started my garden.

I enjoy their large tropical leaves and lovely flowers. Once they grow enough to start blooming each summer they usually don’t stop until the weather begins to cool substantially in late September or early October.

I should mention that I grow my cannas in pots so that I can easily move them indoors in the winter. The pots are placed directly into my garden beds in late spring or early summer to grow among the many other plants.

As the weather begins to cool in the fall I bring my many cannas into my enclosed back porch. I spray them using a spray bottle with a few drops of liquid detergent added to the water to help remove any bugs that have hung on to the plants. Then I let my cannas slowly die down and go dormant.

Once the cannas are dormant I bring them indoors and keep them in my basement in a cool fairly dark place. Of course I bring the cannas indoors if the outdoor temperatures drop too low before the cannas have gone dormant. When that happens I just let them finish going dormant in the cool dark basement.

I’d say that the cannas are always in our basement by early November each year. There they will stay until the temperatures warm enough to place them in the back porch once more, and then outdoors. This means that they are usually kept indoors until the end of April or so.

While the cannas are in the basement I check on them periodically and give them a small watering every three to four weeks. I can assess the health of the tubers when I check on them, and keep them alive yet in a dormant state by only watering them when they are very dry.

Around mid-February each year I move the cannas closer to one of the basement windows so that they can get some filtered light. I also begin to water them approximately every two weeks.

They quickly come out of dormancy and begin to grow new leaves.

At this time, three of the five cannas that I have in my basement have a fair number of leaves. They might have started growing faster this year! Two are still dormant and I’m hoping that they will come out of dormancy soon.

Most people that grow cannas in cool climates either buy new tubers each year, or dig the tubers up in the fall and store them in sawdust or a dry substrate for the winter. They are stored in a cool dry place.

I tried that method during my first year of gardening and lost all of my cannas! The following year I began my little experiment of growing them in pots and bringing the pots indoors just as I’ve described above. I’ve successfully kept the cannas alive each year with this method and I’m quite happy to continue using this technique.

Now that the canna leaves are beginning to grow I know that Spring can’t be too far off. Within a month or less my crocus’ will be coming up in the lawn, and other spring bulbs such as tulips will be starting to awaken and grow. I can’t wait.

How do you over-winter your exotic plants? I’d love to hear if you have any interesting methods.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.






Crocosmia not blooming well

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Crocosmia is a very pretty summer flower that often bears orange or fiery red flowers on vertical stems.

I mentioned that I grow Crocosmia in a recent post and said that some of my clumps were getting quite large and crowding out other plants.

What I didn’t realize was that if the clumps get too large, enough that individual Crocosmia begin to crowd one another that their blooms will suffer.

If you find that your Crocosmia are blooming poorly do think about dividing the clump. Poor bloom and a thick stand of foliage are two indications that the Crocosmia needs rejuvenation.

In the early spring dig up the clump and divide it gently into several smaller portions.

If you examine your clumps you’ll notice that there are two different forms of roots and new growth. You’ll find that some corms have produced underground stems with roots (stolons) that are destined to send up new shoots. Detach and plant these tiny new plants on their own. The other form of growth that you’ll see is a chain of corms along a slender root. Keep these chains attached as you replant for best success.

Planting Bare Root plants

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This is a continuation of “Buying Bare Root Plants“:

Once the bare root perennial plants that you’ve ordered have arrived you really should plant them. The sooner they are in the ground the better.

However the weather doesn’t always co-operate, and if you must store them temporarily until the weather is nice enough to begin planting your bare root shrubs, trees and perennials you can “heel in” the plants by laying them in a temporary trench dug in a shady spot in the garden and cover the roots with moist sawdust bark or soil. Sometimes if the weather is really bad, you might choose to store your bare root plants in a cool storage area – perhaps your basement, a root cellar or even your garage.

You should receive detailed instructions as to how to plant your new plants. Read the instructions carefully. I know for my bare root roses it was often suggest that I soak the roots for 8 to 24 hours before planting.

Begin by digging the hole for your plant. It’s a good idea to dig a hole that is both deeper and wider than what you need for the roots. You can check the soil conditions easily in this way, you can amend the soil to some degree just for that particular plant, and the soil in the area that you are planting the bare root will be looser and allow the roots to spread out and grow.

When checking the conditions of the soil make sure that the soil is moist – not dry, not excessively damp either. If it’s too damp or even wet wait a few days for it to dry out. Perhaps the area you are digging in is in the path of a snow and ice melting area and happens to be damper in the Spring than other areas of your garden.

When you are ready to plant your new bare root plant remove the packing material from around the roots. You shouldn’t put moss or wood shavings in the planting hole. Throw that stuff out.

Cut off any damaged or broken roots and be sure it’s a clean cut.

Make a cone shaped mound in the center of the planting hole and position the plant so that it’s at the right depth. The correct depth is the depth it was at at the nursery or whatever your instructions say for that plant.

In my area root grafts on roses should be buried about two inches below ground but in warmer zones the root graft is always above ground. This is another reason to read your instructions carefully.

Spread the plants roots out as evenly as possible. Slowly backfill the hole using the native soil from the hole. Do not use chemical fertilizer or fresh manure in the planting hole as that can damage the roots. Hold the plant upright as you fill in the hole and firm the soil. Be sure that there are no air pockets in the soil around the roots.

I often fill the hole half way with soil gently packing it around the roots and then water the soil slightly. This helps remove some of the air in the soil and or air pockets too.

Once your new bare root plant is planted care for it as directed. In no time at all you should have a happy thriving plant.

Good Luck!

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