Canna's on the move

Bilbo - sorry to see your Canna like that. I have had no trouble with my Cannas as they are in huge pots and not that tall, but I had terrible trouble with my Brugs a while back. At 8 and 9 feet in smallish pots, they kept blowing over. So I had a brilliant idea - I wedged the pots so they couldn't blow over. Big mistake - the stems of 4 or 5 of them just snapped in two inspite of being over an inch in diameter.

 

Of course not pete, last year they started yellowing before the frosts came so they began to dry out outside before I eventually moved them indoors before the frosts. I only had them in large pots last year so I just left them in the pot and wrapped them up as I have dome many times before, but such was the severity of last winter being wrapped up (a lot) and put in a usually frost free shed wasn't enough.

If when I lift the ones in the ground and move the ones in pots I'm assuming it should be ok to cut back some of the tallest stems which are at 10ft if they haven't already started to die back?

I kept toying with the idea of leaving the ones in the ground and building something over them to insulate them just by way of an experiment as I have 3 in large pots and also seed as back up, what do you think?

 

Hi Peter; the 3 plants I have in pots simply got blown over and no damage at all was caused, obviously the ones in the ground didn't have that in their favour and bore the brunt of a very very strong wind.

 

Bilbo, I have overwintered cannas in the ground during the mild winters but even then they were slow to get going in spring.
I even used to dig up and divide plants in late feb, then pot up and grow on in the greenhouse due to not enough room in the greenhouse in november.

I find if you cut back before drying off, the roots take ages to dry properly with no top growth to draw the moisture, and then you can get rot problems.

Trial and error has always been my way of looking at things, so if you have enough plants I'd say experiment, and let us know what works best for you.

 

Right, it's nearly time to lift and protect the Cannas for winter, but a couple of questions to others for their views;

Last night on GW Monty lifted his canna, cut it back and potted up in a pot to keep frost free but slightly damp, BUT others prefer to wash off the compost and not cut them back until the leaves have completely dried and then store them in wood shavings or dry compost, what's your views??

Also on another thread I think it was Scotkat (?) mentioned she'd stored her fuchsias in the attic after cutting them back and putting them in boxes, would this be a possibilty for canna storage? - a place that should be frost free without being too warm? again, view's please.

I have stored cannas in pots over winter before left in situ in their pots, kept just a little moist and frost free and they've been fine, just toying with other options as I have 7 multi stemmed plants to protect.

Thanks in advance :thumb:

 

I think I've already given my view Bilbo, but I'd just like to say that if you use the dry off and store in wood shavings, method, you can end up with the kind of shrivelled specimens you get in those packs at gardencentres in spring.

I would not trust my loft to be frost free, the insulation is between the ceiling joists, so it gets pretty cold up there.

 

Thanks pete, I'm not going down the 'dry and wood shavings' route either, because like you say it immediately gives images of thos shop bought packets.....

 

Pete - Thanks for that very useful comment. Just before the recent cold spell (we had a couple of days of frosts) I had cut down my Cannas and put them under cover. But, today, after your comment I repotted them in fairly dry compost.

 

Has anyone else lifted their Canna rhizomes yet ? I think the lift and store methods have been fully explained in previous posts. I will be storing mine with some stem left on in just damp old compost in cardboard boxes in my garage.
Actually my C. Tropicals are still looking great but I do need to clear them soon so I can plant some tulips.

There is a good article and storing photos on another forum , if an Admin reads this , is it acceptable to post a link to the article ?

 

I've put my 3 plants that were in pots into the shed, they are already starting to dry; I've had to cut the 8-10ft stems back to get them in the shed but I've left on the shorter 2-4ft ones for now until they've dried out :thumb:

Next stop; lifting the ones in the ground, hopefully this week :thumb:

 

I got permission from our admin in the oval office to post this other forum link . About 3/4 down the page are some good storage photos. Also if you scan the post some plus and minus on Canna overwintering .
Hardy Tropicals UK - View topic - Cannas - dig up or mulch? (started Sep 2009)

 

Yes, I moved my cannas in pots to the shed because their leaves were looking past their best, but the ones in the groud that I keep toying with lifting are still throwing out plenty of buds and are completely green.....just don't want to get caught out by a sudden frost....hmmmmmm what to do, what to ??? :D