"madgardener" wrote in message
...
snipped a little..
That was a bit drawn out but I thought I'd share.

Thanks! I remember that tornado.. I had a good friend that lived down
there at the time.


If you're in zone 6, since your canna's are already planted, the question
is how deeply are they planted? You can actually plant the plants deeper
since you're already harvesting seeds. Cut the flowers off and enjoy them,
dig up the plants and put them two shovels deep into the same spot,
ammending the soil while you're at it. don't cut off the leaves,(they'll
provide more protection later on) but you can pile six inches of mulch
around the whole outside of the clump of the plants. Once the frosts kill
back the leaves, you can either put a bag of leaves over each clump or
throw some more mulch over the dead leaves as they'll protect the rhizomes
too. The two shovels deep rule daddy taught me was usually the depth that
freezing didn't get to in Nashville. I've dug up my dad's canna's in the
past, and they had actually pulled down deeper than two shovels deep, they
had gone as much as three. They never froze, even when we had
temperatures of -18 that held for over a week in 1984.


Mine aren't really very deep. Is there a max to how deep I should plant
them?
I think I'll try leaving some in the ground, and bringing some in this
winter.
(in case the ground ones don't make it). I'll mulch really well and see how
they do.
Of course, if we have another mild winter, it may not be a good test.

Since yours are growing good, don't panic, there's no need to dig them up
and bring them inside the garage. I have better luck with mine in the
ground. But if you've ever successfully wintered rhizomes or bulbs
through, then go ahead and do it that way. I know people who have no
problem and great success. There's a trick to it with peat moss, but as
good as I am, I'm not been successful and maybe someone can walk you
through the process who has had continual returns.

Just know there are choices and that yes, a little soaking, a nick or
actually just take some course sandpaper and scratch the seed a bit, and
toss them into nice rich pots of dirt and wintered outside, or throw them
in a spot you want them and put some leaves over the seeds and firm in
with your foot and next spring, when the ground has warmed to 76o, you
might find when you pull back the leaves carefully or checked the pots
(they were mulched with leaves too as protection against cold) you might
find seedlings of crossed cannas or exact babies of who they came from.
It takes perennials about three years from seed to bloom, it would be fun
to find out what you came out with. Keep us posted in what you decide.
That's have the fun of gardening!

I'm going to try to grow some from seed, just to see if I can do it.
Thanks for the help! This is my first time growing cannas, hopefully I won't
lose them!

Amy