Growing cannas in your garden is an easy way to create instant tropical flair. Cannas are tropical and subtropical flowering plants with large, banana-like leaves. Cannas' popularity and active hybridizing have resulted in a dazzling array of cannas to choose from, many with large, showy flowers and variegated leaves that look like stained glass when the sun shines through them. Striking flowers notwithstanding, cannas are often grown for their foliage alone. The large, paddle-like leaves come in a range of greens and blue-greens and can have variegation and stripes. Somewhat tubular and lily-like, Canna flowers come in shades and combinations of yellow, orange, red, and pink and are borne on tall stalks poking out of the foliage. Because most Cannas sold today are the result of many crosses, Cannas are rarely classified and are simply considered hybrids.
How to keep Canna Ux Hybrida.
Water
Cannas need lots of water and are plants that actually prefer "wet feet" (most garden plants don't). You can even grow them in sitting water. Insufficient water will cause the leaves to tear or crack.
Temperature
Blooming depends on the climate and weather. In areas with cool springs, the plants may be slow to get started. Potting them up indoors, before your last frost date, and moving them out while they are already growing, will help them bloom earlier. As tropical plants, cannas prefer humid air but can tolerate relative dryness, especially if they are properly watered.
Fertilizer
In addition to needing lots of water, cannas are hungry plants, although they store some food in their rhizomes. Feed them in early spring and midsummer, using a balanced fertilizer.
Pruning
To keep your plants flowering throughout the season, deadhead them as the blooms start to fade. If you prefer to grow cannas for their foliage alone, you can cut back the flower stalks before they even have a chance to bloom.
Botanical profile.
- Plant Type
- Annual flower (in most zones)
- Genus
- Canna
- Family
- Cannaceae
- Hardiness Zone
- 8-11
- Bloom Time
- Summer
- Native Area
- Tropics
