My Cannas

[injunjoe]

:watering

 

[blue skys]

My cannas are the same color, but not nearly as beautiful!

 

[prism]

So beautiful! I've never grown Cannas but yours sure make me want to try!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Greenthumb18]

Wow such beautiful blooms, i like how the orange goes against the yellow.

 

[lesa]

They are lovely! I have good luck with them here in zone 4- of course, I have to dig them up in the fall and replant in the spring. But, they are worth it! I have a solid red one that I am very fond of. This year, was a terrible growing season- rain, cold, etc. My cannas came up, but I had no blooms for the first time. Maybe with a late frost, I'll still have a chance...Enjoy yours!

 

[injunjoe]

Thank you very much for the compliments on my flowers.
I had other colors but a few hard freezes got them.
One was a black leaf type. It was so pretty just the leaves were a joy.

 

[HiDelight]

those are just so beautiful

I can not grow them here ..some people can but right on my hill I just can not get them to grow

what a very pretty picture

thanks for sharing!

 

[injunjoe]

those are just so beautiful

I can not grow them here ..some people can but right on my hill I just can not get them to grow

what a very pretty picture

thanks for sharing!

You are welcome! There is a row of 4 all ready to bloom. Some are and some are just about to. It would make a great photo if the wind stays down for a few days. Some have like 6 or 7 buds on them. I hope to get many pictures over the next few weeks.

Sorry you can't grow them there.
Is it the short season? Or just not warm enough?

 

[Greensage45]

Cannas are incredible plants with fabulous flowers. I am fortunate to be in a climate where they can overwinter outdoors, but most folks would have to take them up and store them which is always such a hassle.

I have always adored the pink cannas. Usually each season I start a batch of canna seeds to see what new colors I can come up with. Cannas will bloom from seed in their first growing season, so seed to bloom is quite common.

Here are some of my results from seeds. If the flower produced is tiny, red, and elongated like wasp wings it is a 'wild' throwback of the plants earliest beginnings; it is what they refer to as a 'Lucifer' Canna.

This was a very pretty Salmon with yellow.

Look at the comparison from this pink color

Here I got a yellow-red variant, its petals are not very large so not a show stopper.

Here is the wild variant called 'Lucifer', it can occur from any plant and is a throw-back to a wild past.

Canna Seeds

Canna seeds are like large buckshot. Big black hard seeds. The seedcoat itself is so hard that a seed can fall into moist soil and still take years to germinate. Often cannas found in the wilds were along watersheds and streambeds, they are considered a bog plant and will thrive in that environment. Some cannas are adapted to complete water environments as their anchoring points, growing up out of ponds.

To Germinate: Some folks like to use a file to scratch down through the hard black seedcoat until they expose the white of the seed itself. Here is what I do.

Place a pan of water to boil. Put seeds in coffee mug on counter. Once water comes to boil pour over seeds 3/4 full. Let sit 24-48 hours. The viable seeds will plump up and even begin to grow a rootnub. It will form like a tiny white bump so be sure not to rub this off. I then pop them into a seed tray and cover, but plastic wrap on a pot will do just fine, then warmth, bright light and about 7-10 days you will have baby cannas. They grow very strong and very fast so once they pop up and are 1/2 tall then get them exposed to the air and more light. I usually do this in a Spring window and have them outside by the time they reach 6 inches tall. They bloom within 2 months of going into the garden; the first bloom will be on a shorter stalk, and each subsequent offshoot or new stalk will produce a taller and taller version until it reaches its maximum height.

Along with bloom density and thickness, the height is a variant to a canna as well; so watch those new baby cannas, if you see one acting short through the season then this one should be moved to the front of the flower bed because it is a dwarf. These I try to identify so they do not get drowned out by the other taller cannas, and a dwarf canna patch is a sight to behold.

This season I got several bronze leaf cannas that bloomed a nice dark orange pink/salmon. They have remained very short in the beds so I will likely dig them up and refresh them with some manure. I didn't get any pictures of them....bad me

I would love to hear from anyone that grows the big fat white cannas. The ones that are a light creamy yellow that look almost cream looking. I bought seeds two seasons ago from Parks but the seeds failed when i did the boiled water technique; I suspect that the seeds were pre-treated for easier germination with something like an acid and I treated them like fresh hardcoats; a real big disappointment.

This next Spring I will announce some Canna seeds from all my pinks to share to anyone wanting to try them.

Ron

 

[Greensage45]

Hi,

I got a new color pink to my cannas today. This one was started by seed this Spring.

It is more a Salmon Pink, but still pink in my eyes

I Love this color!

Ron