Hi folks. The Mrs bought a Canna at Wilko`s yesterday but there is virtually no information on the label, not even the name. My question is, are all Canna`s hardy ? Cheers...freddy.
I have left Canna indica and C. braziliensis in the ground in the past and they returned each year with a thick mulch layer over them, but we havent had the harsh winters of old in recent years. But dont assume Cannas will be reliably hardy in a cold winter. Depending on the variety the chances are it would get though the sort of winters we have had recently. I would guess its likely to be an indica coming from Wilkos, but a photo would help, was there an image on the packet? The worrying thing about canna's of late has been canna virus (there appears to be serveral strains), which can be spread by aphids. A significant number of plants sold by garden centres (i have seen virused ones in Wyvale and B+Q for example) have had the virus. I had to get rid of all my Canna's last year as a result of virus. I have started again this year from seed from freinds who had clean plants, so hopefully I will be ok this year.
I'd guess its probably an indica from the photo, in which case it would most likely come back with a good mulch. The advantage of lifting them in autum is not only do you not risk them to winter cold/wet and rot is that you can divide (they can bulk up quite quickly given good conditions) and also you can get them started earlier in the spring. It looks a nice healthy clean plant from here. Keep an eye out for any blotches/marks on the leaves as these indicate virus (have a look at http://www.hartcanna.com/virus.htm for detail of what to watch out for) By the way love the statues in the background!!
Hi again T/G. You say to lift them. I assume you mean to store them in a frost-free spot ? Are they a bit like Dahlias in that respect ? Do they die down after the frosts ? Sorry for my ignorance. Those statues are what we brought with us when we moved back in December, so as yet they are just being stored there for now. I have a fairly long garden(200ft) but only narrow(13ft). The plan is to create two seperate gardens, each around 30ft long(the rest being given to veg growing). One garden will have the cottage `feel` and the other a tropical/jungle `feel` and hopefully I`ll be able to use those statues/figures there somewhere but that`s something for the future, still trying to get the veg plot sorted. Cheers...freddy.
Sorry yes many people lift and store like dahlias, I lifted one a couple of years back for insurance and just kept it in the shed, then in the spring i cut it into much smaller bits and made maybe 8 plants from the same one. The leaves will get frosted and die back to the ground if left out. The ones i left in the ground I gave about a 4" cover in bark mulch. I have heard of people put a bit of black plastic over the top to keep the rain out as well but i havent tried that.
Ok T/G, thanks for that. Just one more thing. From what you say, they are still green when you put them to storage for overwintering. Hopefully, my greenhouse will be up well before that, so I should just keep them ticking over during this time ? Cheers...freddy.
I chopped the leaves off to store. Some people wait until the first frost gets the leaves, but i am always busy in the run up to winter so just did them when it was convenient. I guess in a heated greenhouse you could keep it going all winter, but i havent tried. My new seed grown ones will all be left to fend for themselves.
Hi. Freddy, if you got one of the £3.49 from Wilko's then it is probably the same as the one I got. It is an Indica from the Canary Islands.
Hi John. Thanks for that. I was wondering, it`s quite potbound and looks good for dividing. Would I be right in saying that now`s not the time to do it ? Cheers...freddy.
I personally would plant it and divide at start of spring next year. At that price its worth picking up another.
I keep mine in a cold green house over winter just in case but I think they are supposed to be hardy in milder areas
Yes you may just get away with it in the south-west but here on the Yorkshire coast, although we are milder in winter than inland, I once tried it. Bye bye canna.
