by Kimberley A. Willis

Created on: August 26, 2009   Last Updated: August 30, 2009

Cannas- Bold and Beautiful

If you crave bold accents and lush tropical foliage in your garden then cannas are the plants for you. These bold beauties have made a big come back and canna rhizomes of choice varieties regularly sell out in stores and catalogs. Cannas are easy to grow, relatively inexpensive, and dramatic additions to tired old flowerbeds. With a huge selection of flower and leaf colors, there is sure to be a canna that will add pizzazz to your garden.

Cannas will grow almost anywhere, as a perennial in the south and a summer flowering plant whose rhizomes can be easily lifted and stored in the north. There are cannas for large spaces and tiny cannas just right for containers. While the flowers of some varieties of cannas are the show, in others it's the huge, tropical appearing foliage, and in many modern varieties it's both. And cannas are indeed tropical plants, flourishing in heat and humidity.

Canna leaves are usually large and broad, with a heavy rib down the center. They can be various shades of green, burgundy and red often with splashes of white or yellow or stripes of color following the leaf veins. Depending on variety, cannas grow from 16 inches to 10 foot in height. The rhizomes increase horizontally underground, throwing up new shoots until the plant becomes a huge clump.

The flowers of cannas come near the end of summer, on long stalks at the top of the plant. They are often described as orchid like- or gladiolus like. They can be large and striking in modern varieties but may be smaller and less glamorous in some older cannas. Canna flowers come in all colors and color combinations except blue, purple or true white. Canna seed is a hard, round, black ball which gives cannas the common name of Indian Shot.

Cannas are usually purchased as bare rhizomes in the north, as rhizomes or potted plants in the south. Look for rhizomes that are large and firm with two or more buds on them.

In the North, [zone 7 and lower], start rhizomes indoors about 6 weeks before your last frost in pots of good, rich potting soil. The pots should be in a warm, sunny area and kept well watered. The rhizomes may also be planted directly in the ground after the last frost when the ground is warm, but they may be slow to start growth and late to bloom. In frost-free areas the rhizomes can be planted at any time. While a frost may kill all the foliage in some areas below zone 8, the rhizomes will survive underground if protected with mulch. I have had cannas

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