Cannas and Daylilies - Help

I have a bed of cannas and daylilies that I now have to dig up to have a french drain installed. We just flooded again! I have about 60 cannas and 30 daylilies that I really don't want to lose. It may take a week or more to get the drain finished. Should I cut everything back like I would in the fall and put them in a box of dirt and then replant them when the drain is finished? We have some really hot weather here in the Dallas area and I've never dug anything up and replanted it in this heat. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Not sure for your area. In WI, I could dig the daylilies up, shake the dirt off and let dry out, then re-hydrate the day before I would want to replant. I would cut the leaves back by 1/2. Don't know about the canna, only have had them to winter over after the first frost. Any chance that you can dig wide and heel them in somewhere else? Someone else would know more about this. Hope you get some feedback from others in your area. I had to dig a lot up one year due to flooding and kept them in the garage-but the heat was not an issue and they were not cannas. Good luck.

Thanks, Marcia. No, the entire bed has to be dug out and lowered by at least six inches, a newer, larger drain put in and a berm built up. Unfortunately, I have to dig them completely out. Hopefully, someone has done this before but if I don't get more responses, I'll probably cut the cannas back about half, too.

Im trying to remember the name of the lady who dug up all her DL because she was moving. I believe she potted all of hers up for the move tho. Ill be right back after I check it out.

http://davesgarden.com/members/wolflover04/

wolflover04 moved all of her daylilys, this is a link to her member page if you would like to email her and ask. Meanwhile someone should come along too. Dont give up.

This message was edited Jul 28, 2004 10:00 PM

Thank you, Dravencat. I really hate to take a chance with them but my DH says we can't wait any longer. We used every towel in our house and then wrung those out and mopped up more. As much as I hate to dig up my flowers, I hate the flooding more. Fortunately, we have tile floor on that side of our house but I'm sure we will probably have mold problems. Thanks, again for your help.

You can ask dablaw too, he is constantly moving hundreds/thousands of daylilys so he would be a big help too. You can find alot of his postings in the daylily forum and I know hed be glad to tell you what you need to do.

trunnels; I live between Fort Worth and Dallas and have dug up cannas. Just cut the folage down, dig em up and then transplant them where you want them and just keep them watered real good. They won't do much anymore this year by digging them up, but should be ok for you come next year. When I dug and replanted some of my cannas, I sprinkle just alittle bulb food in the hole or sprinkle Bone Meal on the surface, scratch it in with gardening tool and watered in.

As for the daylilies; I would do what MarciaGeiger had suggested doing, dig up and let them dry and then when you want to replant them, I soak mine in Seaweed solution or fish emulsion for about 1/2 hour or so.

WelI, I have several large Rubbermaid style trunk type rectangle bins, probably about 3 ft wide, 1 1/2 ft deep. I added peat moss, soaked it thouroughly to get it moist and now when I get daylilies in that I don't have time to pot up, I heal them into the peat and keep in the shade. They love it! Some ended up staying for months and blooming in those bins. My bins are full right now as I am working on amending a bed before planting. By keeping them in the shade in those bins, you can wait for cooler weather to plant, otherwise you may loose too many. At least that way they continue to grow and won't be set back by any harsher methods.
I have heard of other people that just put theirs in plastic bags, dirt and all, kept them shaded until they can get them replanted.

This message was edited Jul 28, 2004 9:24 PM

ooooOOOOO Thats a great idea Sue.

Love that idea Sue.

Thanks, everyone. Sue, your idea sounds like a great one and I believe that is exactly what I will do. I'm sure it will work for the cannas as well. They are about 6-7 foot tall and it just kills me to cut them back but you gotta do what you gotta do. Thanks, again!

Just went out and took this shot.
My Mom originally came up with this but I had to buy several and I make sure these are all empty in the spring when all the new orders come in so I have room. I am our club's procurement chair and all the new orders come to me the week before our meetings and I heal them in here and the day before the meeting, I remove them to distribute them to the various growers. What a sight, loads of new intros all in one spot!

Sue, thanks for sharing. It makes me feel much better about digging everything up.

Good, you wont be so worried about them having to wait a week or two to be replanted either.

trunnels- I had some bengal cannas not cut back in a bucket for going on 4 months with nothing more than water in the bottom. They got root bound and that was about the only problem. They even made loads of babies.

I just got stuck at DFW for 36 hours this last Wednesday and Thursday because of rain. Boy, it has rained a lot there this year!

Calif_Sue,

Thanks for such a great idea. Just happen I am itching to amending several spots at a bed. With this bin healing method, I could probably amending the whole bed if I do it in zones.

I wonder if I could do this too my mini roses as well.

Do you drill holes at the bottom of the bins for drainage?

Yes, DH had to drill holes, juat a couple, one on each end when the rains started, peat was starting to smell eewwwww!

trunnels, several references indicate that cannas should be cut back when foliage is diseased or the blooming is completed, to encourage new growth during the same season. I would think that cutting yours back to prevent transplant shock would be a good way to handle them ;o)

Terry- Mine were not cut back because they were just runts themselves when I dug them- they hadn't bloomed yet 4 months ago. Absolutely if trunnels have bloomed, I would think that they would have to be cut back.

Thanks, Daisy. Yes, my cannas are in full bloom (about six feet tall). Thought I had to dig them out this past weekend but I couldn't get on the landscapers schedule until next week. You are right about that rain. I wish it could be spread out instead of flooding a few days and then drought for a couple of months. We are really steaming now.