Canna 2016

No problem. If you have trouble sourcing anything in particular, let me know

 

Youve got me looking at seeds now im going to pull my finger out for 2017 and grow more canna,defo going to try glaucia again its flower was so elegant.Hart canna say they will have new stock for 2017 so i will check the site again come november to see what seed they have too

 

Canna glauca growing in the pond in the Lily House at Oxfords Botanic Garden...............

 

After seeing that photo @longk im growing more than 5 glauca,i want a big clump now!
It knocks the socks of my 2013 one

 

Get ye a tropical indoor pond then

 

I planted a Canna Cleopatra this year as I was smitten with the way it flowers and different colour leaves. It has grown to about 2 feet and 2 flower spikes. It is situated so it does not get the midday sun and seems to like the position.
Am I correct in saying once the flower has gone over you do not cut the flower head off?? I did read on one web page that new flowers come up from the old dead head??

I will on the lookout this year for more unusual and striking cannas to buy. Must admit I have 50/50 success with overwintering and I think that is because I followed wrong advice on a web site. I prune them back then dig them out of pot and store in a much smaller pot with compost.

I then during the winter keep the compost moist which may be my mistake.

Pete stores his cannas bone dry in a cold garage so I will have to do that this year. Pete, do you store them in a box with no compost or keep them covered in dry compost in a pot or box.

Thanks for any info.

 

If I was going to be starting a collection of Canna I would stick to seed as Canna virus is rife amongst bought plants. Failing that only buy from reputable suppliers - @joolz68 should be able to point you in the right direction.

As far as over-wintering goes the trick is to keep them dry enough to avoid rot but moist enough to ensure that the tubers don't start to dry out and shrivel as they can be a bugger to get going again if that happens.

 

Unless you want to keep the seed, I'd have thought that the same principle applies to Cannas as to other plants.....best to remove spent flowers to ensure it continues flowering. It's easy to spot the new sheath containing the next lot and to snap off the finished bit above that.

 

I keep mine as dry as I can, but then they are pretty cold for three months or more, and in very poor light, and in the same pots they finished in at the end of the season.
I dont disturb them until they wake up the following spring, apart from cutting back the stems as they die.

Its just my way of doing it, other way work just as well, it depends a lot on what cxonditions you can provide.

 

I agree, you often get a second, sometimes third flower spike occur from the initial sheath, the trick is to not cut below that sheath, so just remove the old stem with dead flowers and seed pods forming.
Some hybrids dont actually form seed, even though they appear to be forming the capsules.

 

I do too,also fleece the pots if below freezing,i think it can be hit and miss if they survive in pots or in the ground as i had 4 shoot from the ground with no mulch all winter in may(pleasant surprise) but lost ones in pots in april