Hi, ponders. : )

How do you care for cannas over the winter? Do they need to be taken out and
if so, do you cut them back? Mine didn't bloom this summer, their first. Is
that normal, and if not, what should I do to help them next year? They're
planted in a soilless mix and I put some fertilizer in it at the time.

Thanks!

Idaho, zone 5

On 23 Oct 2003 21:37:44 GMT, (Nanceemo) wrote:

How do you care for cannas over the winter? Do they need to be taken out and
if so, do you cut them back? Mine didn't bloom this summer, their first. Is
that normal, and if not, what should I do to help them next year? They're
planted in a soilless mix and I put some fertilizer in it at the time.

I'm gonna assume (uh, oh) you mean tropical cannas and not hardy cannas.
Hardy cannas would be left in the pond. What works with tropical cannas is
to let frost knock them back, trim off the greenery and allow root ball to
dry in a place it won't freeze. Store in a paper bag with peat moss if you
have it.

I think it may be the soilless mix, many of us have found that water lilies
bloom better in soil, so I'd go back to sandy soil for the cannas, imo. In
fact, last year I never got around to knocking the sandy soil off mine and
just stored them in the garage in the soil that I kept moist. They survived
and thrived. ~ jan
See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
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