canna plant and easter lilie winter care

Hi folks,
I have a canna plant and an Easter lilie in my back garden in the ground. Do I need to dig them up and store them over winter or will they be ok staying in the border over winter?
Thanks :D

 

Yep that's what we did with the ones in the tropical bedding at college dug them up and stored them in those cheap blue plastic fruit boxes with a bit of damp soil and an old compost bag for cover

 

Hello Hydrogen
I am in your area , and I will be lifting my canna rhizomes when the plants start to die back - possibly early November . At the moment they are still flowering and look great. if you look in the Tropical Plant section there are huge threads on Cannas . They seemed to be the "In" plant this year

 

Thanks harry that's what I will do then. It's only a small canna anyway and already starting to die back. I was thinking that maybe if I had took the chance and left it in the ground over winter it may continue to divide. Also I'm not exactly the most confident gardeners yet...when ever I dig a plant up for storage I always have this feeling like I'm going to kill it lol

 

The short answer to that John is I don't know :D On Canna growing I am just keeping one lesson ahead , as like a lot of us this is my first year. When I store my Begonia tubers , I dry them off 100% remove the soil dust them with sulpher powder wrap in tissue and store in onion bags in my garage. I think Cannas are a little different this is what the RHS says........

Lifting plants
Cannas are lifted after the foliage has been blackened by frost:

• Cut back the stems 5cm (2in) from the base. These stems can be composted
• Use a fork to prise the plants out of the soil, taking care not to damage the roots or fleshy rhizomes
• Remove debris and loose soil
• Store them in trays of sand, coir or vermiculite, with the crown of the plant (where the stems join the roots) just showing
• Keep them just moist in a cold, frost-free greenhouse or conservatory
• Container-grown plants can be stored in their pots after cutting back

Now where you split the rhizomes etc to propogate them , I don't know. Looks like another Canna question or two will be needed late October !

 

I think we need to remember that cannas are really evergreen plants that will if stressed survive totally dry for a period.

My thoughts are its best to overwinter with some leaves, they get away better the following spring if they are not totally dormant.

If you are overwintering barely frost free, then they need to be fairly dry, but I try to keep some foliage.
So just a slight watering during mild spells keeps them going.

I've lifted a couple already and have them in pots in the greenhouse, of course I did not allow for the weather at the moment, so could have left them for a while, but better to give them a chance to dry out than leave till November when its very damp and cold.

 

Any ideas the Easter lily? I think I'm going to take a chance and leave it in the ground.
Thanks everyone.

 

Not sure what an Easter lilly is. ?

 

Glad you asked that Pete

Lilium longiflorum

I'm thinking of entering this pic into the march 2012 photo competition

 

Not grown it myself H so hesitate to give advice.

Looks like any other Lilly, so could well be hardy.