Help with Cannas.

[tuffenuff2]

I have several cannas in pots. I had some last year that I left in the pots and put in the garage over the winter but they didn't make it. How can I get them to make it through the winter? When should I cut them back if at all?

 

[Shutout]

I have never attempted this but I am pretty sure you will have to cut them back, dig up the rhizomes, place them in a pot, cover them with some form of garden medium (mulch, or potting soil maybe?) then store the pot in a frost free environment.

 

[tuffenuff2]

Thanks.

 

[Agee]

I have never attempted this but I am pretty sure you will have to cut them back, dig up the rhizomes, place them in a pot, cover them with some form of garden medium (mulch, or potting soil maybe?) then store the pot in a frost free environment.

Yes, cut them back, but leave them in their pots and out side. In the spring, remove everything from the pot and plant, they can get large, so give them some room between plants.

Unless they're in rather large pots, they do much better in your yard!

They are akin to Iris, cut them back in the fall and they survive the winters in this area.

 

[acommondisaster]

They're a lot like caladiums - they don't like soil colder than 40 degrees. Lift 'em in the fall, put them in some light, moist soil and keep them somewhere frost free. I lift my caladiums every fall and store them in a bag of garbage bag full of shred - I have about an 80 percent survival rate with caladiums...I'd expect about the same with cannas.

I think that in a sheltered spot, with mulch, cannas would be okay in a mild winter here if cut back, but with the luck I have, it'd be sure sign of a blizzard if I did that. ))

 

[crabcake]

Granted your winters are a little colder than mine, but I leave mine in-ground through winter. They die back in frost, then I mulch the crap out of them with mulched leaves and/or bark chips, and they come back each year. Planting them in ground in a good southern-exposed location will help. Otherwise, what shutout said, except use pete moss to store them in a cool dark place.

 

[frequentflier]

They're a lot like caladiums - they don't like soil colder than 40 degrees. Lift 'em in the fall, put them in some light, moist soil and keep them somewhere frost free. I lift my caladiums every fall and store them in a bag of garbage bag full of shred - I have about an 80 percent survival rate with caladiums...I'd expect about the same with cannas.

I think that in a sheltered spot, with mulch, cannas would be okay in a mild winter here if cut back, but with the luck I have, it'd be sure sign of a blizzard if I did that. ))

After reading an article that said you can do this in southern MD, I let them dry out and put the pots of caladiums in the basement. I also dried the corms that had been planted in the ground and placed them in old nylons to store in the basement. I had not thought about using a medium to store them in. Last year, I have left them in the shed; where it got very cold and very few sprouted.

 

[CRHS89]

My canna think it is spring. New ones shooting up.