... and here's why I ask this question:
I live in Chicago (Zone 5b) and there is this building complex where they have THE SAME Cannas EVERY year and I know that they don't dig up the corms/rhizomes for Winter storage.
They don't do anything but the slightest Winter protection (mulch) and those Cannas keep coming back year after year.
Of course, I don't have a pic. That would be too easy now, wouldn't it? LOL
All I can say is that the plants are short (maybe 3-4') and have dark, small (for a Canna) foliage and small, crimson red flowers for several months - pretty much until the first frost hits.
I know how exceedingly vague all this is - but if anyone had any clue as to what Canna-strain could be THAT hardy, I'd sure appreciate any kind of information.
Oh, one more thing: I know for a fact that those plants in question sometimes go without watering for several days and sometimes even weeks - IN SUMMER...
I know, right? LOL
Olaf
What's the frost hardiest Canna?
Olaf,
All canna rhizomes are equal hardy.
If you plant them in a sheltered location, somewhere the ground doesn't freeze and give a thick layer of mulch you should be able to get the same results as your neighbors.
This message was edited Sep 8, 2011 8:19 PM
Epcot uses Canna....
LOL, Epcot is just a tad warmer than Chicago. Folks in the north generally have to lift their cannas each fall, if no one is lifting these I think it is possible it could be an unusuallly hardy variety. It is hard to imagine a bit of mulch, even in a protected spot, could help in a typical Chicago winter. Don't the winters there occasionally stay below freezing for weeks? The "small flowers" tell me it might be a species and they can be pretty tough. Do you see any seeds on these plants? It might be worth it to see if you could grow your own.
Yes, ardisia. The temperatures stay below freezing for months and a lot of times, usually in February, the temperatures dip below zero for weeks!
That's the reason for this thread. I just can't imagine how a Canna could survive that - but they're back every year...
It's a mystery... :)
The variety sounds like Red Futurity, or one of those types. You're sure they don't just re-plant them each spring?
I'm of the same opinion as Dale, the issue with cannas being that they have those big fat fleshy rhizomes full of water that must not freeze during winter. They go mushy and rot.
A warm micro-climate may be allowing the cannas to survive through your bitter winters with a deep mulch. Take a look at the exposure. I'll bet the bed they're in is on the south side of a building, and maybe it's close in with windows nearby that let some heat out, or a brick or stone wall that acts as a heat sink to collect solar heat and release it during the nights. If the building has a heated basement adjacent to the canna bed, that really could be keeping the bed warm. If you ever walk by that flower bed in the winter, take note if the snow melts off it quickly etc.
I had just such a situation in a south-facing bed at my house in Salt Lake City. Some very tender plants lived through winters there, at 4500ft. of altitude, and long, cold snowy winters. In fact it was so warm the snow used to melt and I'd have to water a little bit to keep the perennials in that bed from dying from dessication.
In any case, I'd try buying some next year and plant them in your most protected, sunny south-facing spot. Then when the time comes, just lift a couple of rhizomes as insurance. Leave the rest in place, mulch like crazy and see if they come back.
I think that you're on to something here, dyzzypyxxy. I used to live down the street from these buildings and they have a very sunny, totally unobstructed East exposure. Also, the plants are planted very close to the wall and I'm pretty certain that they have heated basements.
However, I still can't believe that a plant that is classified as being hardy in zone 10 would be able to make it, even in a sheltered spot, through a zone 5b winter!
And being of rhizomatous nature doesn't help matters either...
Well, the foliage of the plant in your picture is very similar to the plants in question. Only that the flowers on the ones here in Chicago have narrower petals and loook a little more like some of their species ancestors. But overall, the plants are very similar. Short, stout, dark foliage and crimson red flowers.
I know that they don't replant them every Spring bcause the only mulch that they're getting is their own dead foliage and every year you can see the new shoots breaking through the old, dead foliage. I don't think that anyone ever does anything to that bed of Cannas except for maybe a bit of weeding and watering.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments!
Olaf
Olaf, I am nowhere near an expert on canna so please forgive me if I'm way off base here. I live in Z8a/7b. I grow a few types of canna without pulling them up each year. I realize your in a much colder zone than I am, but the last two winters we've had here acted like yours up north. I did not pull my cannas then either. We are drier then y'all are though. Anyways, the canna you are describing sounds like one that I have growing. I'll go take a picture right quick and post it so you can see if it looks like the one your looking for. BRB
OK here's my try #1......
#2 up closer.....
These are short only about 2-3 feet tall. What do ya think?
Or check this one out............ https://store.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/productview/?sku=61-41
I think that your Canna is very similar to the ones here in Chicago. 2-3 ft. sounds about right and the flowers are very similar too. The ones around here might have slightly "redder" flowers but that might be the capture.
Actually the soil here, at least near the lake, is very sandy and drains fast. That might give the rhizomes a bit of a better chance.
It probably is the capture. I had the flash on as it just turned dark before I went out to take the picture. Your also probably right about the sandy soil helping. I find it interesting that canna would rot though because they are commonly grown in ponds or at waters edge around here.
With a lot of tuberous/rhizomatous plants you find that, particularly when they're dormant, wetness+cool temperatures=rot.
Even with such water hogs like Cannas.
Right, Olaf. It's the watery, fleshy rhizomes that are the problem with all cannas and cold weather. If the rhizomes freeze, the water in the cells expands and breaks the cell walls, so when they thaw, they rot.
Cannas do love lots of water, and I've even grown them in my fish pond one summer. But they got too tall, and kept falling over plus there wasn't enough sun so they didn't bloom well. Now I grow the dwarf kinds in pots beside the pond.
Here in Chicago, they sometimes have some real tall cultivars in the ponds for the Summer. One conservatory is doing that and it looks real cool.
Those yellow dwarves are adorable! :)
I grow Gesneriads and have been growing all kinds of tropicals on and off for thirty years. My first "Queen's Tears" (Billbergia nutans), I pulled out of a dumpster in the dead of Winter on a pretty cold day. Of course, most of the plant was dead but there was still a little life left in it - a year later, I had a blooming, little clump. Moral of the story: A lot of tropicals are much hardier than they appear to be - but Cannas surviving a Winter in zone 5b is still a bit strange... :)
bsimpson
since you love tropicals, you need to move on south...LOL
Elaine
I love that dwarf canna. Might have to go looking for some...LOL
Jan
Jan, just drop by some time, I'll give you starts of the yellow and white dwarf cannas.
OR keep checking at Lowe's nursery. They seem to bring them in off and on through the summer. I'm pretty sure that's where I got both of mine.
I just love cannas, they are such great value, as they bloom SO long here. Most bulbs give you one big shot of bloom and then sit there just looking like foliage for the rest of the season, but cannas just keep on bloomin' as long as it's warm and there's sun. And water. And maybe some fert. I've had them bloom sporadically right through winter on the south side of the house.
I have lots of this one in the picture, too. It's supposed to be 'Stuttgart' a variegated type, but it has never had any hint of variegation for me, just nice blue-green leaves. It's very tall and graceful, and the flowers are delicate, unlike some cannas that can be messy-looking.
This one flopped over because a squirrel tried to climb it to get to the bird feeder . . . c'est la vie!
Elaine, I LOVE you Stuttgard. That is one that does not do well here because it is too warm in the summers. Go figure! Sounds strange but we are warmer than your area. Your temps are just milder longer.
My cannas keep coming back, the green ones, this year I will leave the red leaf one out and see how it fares, here is hoping..
oh my missed this tread completely,,,,, I'm heading out today and will check lowes, thanks for the tip. Hope you won't be gone too long we need to meet up again.... the summer came and went and we never touched base, surprising how fast time is going by now.
Jan
okay I caved, I am bringing mine in..