Canna Lillies

Discussion in 'Crops & Gardens' started by Von Jones, May 30, 2016.

  1. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I first was introduced to these gorgeous plants when we visited Johnny's home town in Arkansas. The ground was covered with them. The yard was very shady around the house but they seemed to flourish despite not receiving much sunlight. Right then I knew I wanted to take some back home. We found an old empty 5 gallon paint bucket and a huge pail. They survived the 10 hour drive with occasional stops for water. I didn't know anything about them but I planted them in front of our rental house where they would receive direct sun. They grew! For one year I was enjoying their big leaves and the colorful red blossoms they didn't come back in the years to follow.

    This past Sunday at the flea market one of my favorite vendors happened to have a slew of canna roots and sold them to me for $5. She educated me on the care needed for the weather here in Ohio specifically that they need to be dug up and brought inside during the colder months. That part I didn't like so I went online to do some research and found that I could cover the ground with several layers of mulch, yea!

    I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome next year.
     
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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I love cannas, too, @Von Jones , and have since I moved here to Alabama , where i first saw them. Thankfully, here, we don't have to dig them up, and they not only come back each yer, but they spread.
    I try to dig some up and put them in other area of the yaard so that we can have more of them; but they do put in deep roots, and sometimes, I don't dig deep enough to get the whole root system
    .
    The ones that I have just have the little red flowers; but I have had some with beautiful lemon yellow flowers, and some with striped leaves and glorious orange-gold blossoms.
    What color are the ones you got at the flea market ?
    You got a great price, too ! They are about $6 a plant here at Lowes.
     
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  3. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Wow, $6?!!! I did get a deal, didn't I. I didn't know that they spread. I won't know what color the blooms will be and forgot to asked Jen. The colors sound wonderful, Yvonne. That's even more reason to look forward to next year.
     
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  4. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    It's been years since we had Cannas. Don't know the I've seen any here ion Oklahoma. Hope you find hat you like. I always liked them.
     
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  5. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Well, here's my first pic of one canna sprout. Maybe, just maybe, there will be more that I can enjoy this summer.
     

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  6. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    That is awesome, @Von Jones ! Now that you have them coming up, you should have more and more each year. Some of ours out back are already higher than my head, and I think even higher than Bobby's, too. The others are slower but they are growing pretty fast except for a couple that I just planted last year, and they didn't get such a good start yet, plus they are in a shadier area as well.
    We went to Walmart to get ssome of the chlorine for the swimming pool, and they had their calla lilies on closeout. Even then, it was over $5 jusst for one plant; but it looked pretty healthy, and I will see if it can be divided before I plant it.
    I love the delicate calla lilies, but even here in Alabama, they are not hardy enough to stay out all winter. In the fall, I will dig it up and pot it for the winter. Ssince they do not get as tall as the cannas do, they usually are great as a winter houseplant, and each year there will be more to set out.
     
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  7. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Ooowee! My cannas have spread since the last post. I had to remove the protection that I had to keep the squirrels from digging at the roots. No photos today though. I'm excited :D
     
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  8. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    We have noticed a couple of bulb plants growing in places in our garden where I know we didn't plant them, while we've had bulbs that we planted in the fall not come up in the spring, so I'm thinking the squirrels may have relocated some of them. In working with my garden this year, I've come across quite a few of the nuts that I put out for them last fall, that they apparently buried in the garden and forgot about.
     
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  9. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I'm on the warpath with the squirrels.:mad: They have chewed up some of my canna lillies and a couple of new flowers I planted on Sunday. The blades on my irises have been trampled down so that I doubt if they will bloom. The only bright side is my day lillies and hostas haven't been touched -- yet. I put some screen around and on top of the surviving cannas for now. It's an eyesore but the only option I have to save them until they are mature. Darn squirrels...
     
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  10. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    It is past blooming time for the irises anyway, @Von Jones ; and some of mine have actually just fallen over from the heat now. I took the pruning shears out and lopped the tops off of mine and am letting them regrow new leaves.
    Many of mine were ones that I just planted last year, so they didn't bloom yet anyway.
    Next year , hopefully !
    The cannas are pretty fast-growing, and they should get large enough that the squirrels leave them alone pretty easily.
    I don't think that the squirrels ever even tried to eat any of my canna bulbs; but they grow pretty deep in the ground, so the little rascals would have to dig down quite a long ways to even get to the canna bulbs. I have a terrible time trying to even dig the bulbs out when i want to tranplant some, they are so deep in the ground.

    We are starting to find a few strawberries that the birds haven't eaten; but the season for strawberries is pretty well over now.
    Next year, we are also going to try doing the screen, like you are going to do to protect the cannas, and hopefully, we can save some of the strawberries that way, too.
     
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  11. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    Well, I i think that about the irises. Even though the irises didn't bloom the leaves are nice to look at and add depth to the flower bed. Time to go to Lowes for some annuals.:D
     
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  12. Texas Beth

    Texas Beth Veteran Member
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    My canna lillies are having a tough time. I water them every evening, but they are so limp from the heat. I have been avoiding watering them twice a day as i thought it would be too much. Maybe i should go ahead and do it and see what happens.
     
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  13. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    May I suggest laying mulch down at the base after a good watering. It is suppose to keep the ground moist so there would be less watering.
     
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  14. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    One thing I like about living down south is that I don't have to worry about digging up the plants and relocating them indoors in the winter. I don't have room inside to put anything that's not already there, and any plant that's inside is cat food, in their opinion. I had heard of calla lilies before, but only recently learned about canna lilies, and I like them both. I haven't done much this year in the way of gardening, but hopefully at some point in the future, I will be able to expand my garden. Reading your posts and seeing the pictures of everyone's plants gets me inspired.
     
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  15. Texas Beth

    Texas Beth Veteran Member
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    At first, I thought my canna lillies might not grow back as it has been so hot and dry here in Texas. But, within in the past 7 to 10 days they have come back in and bloomed. Such a pleasant surprise.
     
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