In message , JennyC
writes

"Robert" wrote in message ...
We are planning on growing some dwarf Cannas in containers this year and
would be grateful for advice.

Having done some research on the web there appears to be some
conflicting advice around (for a change). Hart Canna suggest planting
individual rhizomes of the same variety 6" apart in groups of 3 or more
whereas http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/canna/ suggests 12" - 18" apart.
Perhaps the latter is for the large specimens?
The varieties under consideration are Louis Cottin, Aranyalon, Golden
Girl and Sudfunk.

As far as we can determine we should buy the rhizomes now and place them
in compost (Hart indicate peat/coir compost) and keep them just moist in
a frost free environment before transplanting them into fairly deep
exterior planters containing a rich compost (JI No.3?) when frost is
unlikely.
--
Robert

I'm not familiar with the species you mention Robert, but any container will
soon be too small !
They expand enormously, growing extra rhizomes.
6" seems a bit close to me unless they are the dwarf types.
Jenny

They are listed as 'small' which I understand to be around 2' tall and
are apparently suitable for planting in containers. We had thought of
using 18"/20" terracotta pots.

Do they send up more than one shoot per rhizome as a norm?
Hart say that a single rhizome will produce typically 4 to 8 rhizomes in
a year - is this realistic?
--
Robert