At the nursery this year, we have many landscape customers buying tropical plants. Cannas are a top seller because they are easy to use in the garden and in containers.
The customers of the wholesale nursery I work for, Kokopelli Nursery, are primarily residential and commercial landscapers. They come to us for larger sized plant material than you normally see in retail stores. Daily, trucks and trailers are filled with trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials suitable for zone 5 landscapes. This year, however, we are selling quite a few tropical plants. And, of all the annuals and tropicals we handle, Cannas are the most popular.
Cannas make a dramatic statement with their height and colorful foliage and flowers. A few of the local municipalities use them in seasonal plantings in the medians of busy streets. Commercial landscapers use them in parking lot plantings and entrance gardens. Our residential landscape customers have been purchasing them for containers on front porches, patios and poolside.
Cannas are a rhizome that can be purchased in a container, usually a one gallon pot, or bare root. When selecting the rhizome, look for ones that are firm. Rhizomes with soft spots and fungus should be avoided.
So, how do you know what variety to select? Begin with your design. The King Humbert varieties of Cannas are large enough to be placed at the back of a flower border; they mature 5'+. The Red King Humberts have reddish green foliage with bright red orange flowers. Yellow King Humberts have green foliage. Their flowers have a yellow outer border with orange centers. If you want red flowers, try President Cannas. They mature 4-5' with red flowers and green foliage.
The small to mid size Cannas can be used both in the garden and in containers. With striped foliage, Bengal Tiger, Canna x 'Pretoria', is a popular variety. The flowers are orange. The Futurity series have self-cleaning flowers. Their foliage is deep burgandy with a variety of flower colors to choose from. A Canna that I plan to try next year is Journey's End. Brent and Becky's Bulbs describe it as "an unusual one; shiny green foliage sets off the very different creamy flowers spotted and splashed with coral pink; from a distance, the combination of these colors resembles a sunset; medium sized flowers and a relative short plant gives this one more options for spots in the garden." That sounds like a Canna that I must have for my garden!
Jazz up your container combinations by mixing Cannas with other colorful annuals, perennials, grasses and shrubs. Don't be afraid to experiment. You can easily change the plant mix by moving the ones you don't like to another container or garden. For ideas on plant mixes that work, go to Front Door Container and Entrance Container.
Overwintering Cannas is really quite easy. Gardeners in warmer climates can simply leave them in the ground. Colder regions can lift them and store them for replanting the following year.
HGTV has a great article available to help with this annual garden clean up chore.
Read more about favorite summer bulbs in Summer Flowering Bulbs and A Gladiolus Makes Me Glad.
Do you have a favorite Canna? Drop me an email and let me know.
© Susan Mertz, June 2006. All rights reserved.
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
