I want to try to grow a canna lily in a large container with other plants around it. Has anyone tried it in a container. When would I plant it (live in Illinois)? Thanks. Cate
canna lily in a pot?
Hi Cate, I have many cannas in containers and they do fine for me. I'm not sure what zone you're in, but you'd be safe after your last frost date.
That's good to know, Brinda! Do you happen to know if I can start them early indoors so that in May, when it warms up, they've already grown a little? Cate
I've done it many times Cate! You will have fun too, I just love watching them start poking their little heads up!
O.K., that's what I'm going to do, then! I'm so anxious for spring--especially since it's snowing here today!
Cate, I had the same question a couple of years ago and the good folks here talked me into potting a canna that was being repeatedly mowed down by the "gardeners" at my old house. Put it in a pot and moved and it's doing great. Good luck with yours.
Oooh, how pretty! Is that just one bulb? Thanks, Stella. ---Cate
Stellapathic -- can you give me the approximate dimensions of the pot with the canna -- the measurement across the pot top and the height of the one in the picture? Are those plastic or the ultralight pots?
Thanks -- I am investigating growing Cannas in pots.
Sue
I'm so sorry I'm late getting back to you. I actually have a day off today and am trying to spend as much as possible of it in the garden. Let me run out and measure for you right now. And, yes, Cate, it was one bulb, but maybe with a few babies attached, when I dug it out of the ground. It came out of very clay soil and when I transplanted it from a smaller pot (which I had put it in because I knew I was moving) I used only bagged compost. Nothing else. It's had a couple of applications of Miracle Grow since Christmas and seems quite happy. OK, let me go measure.
The pot is plastic and 13" in diameter and 12" high. Hope that helps.
stellapathic - Thanks I appreciate the measurement! It is very hard to get an idea of pots size by looking at photos alone.
Sue
Hi Coneflower Cate and all.
I live in zone 3 and our canna's all do best in pots. I have over wintered by empting the pot and washing the soil off the roots. I let them air dry and a day later pack them in peat moss and put them in my neighbors basement which is like a fridge.
About a month ago they started to sprout so I split them and left large chunks to start them again. The roots you buy in the store are very small compared to how big they get over one season.
In my climate I have found they do best in a very large pot without holes in the bottom. This way I can keep them wet enough when we get light from sun up 430 am to sundown 11 pm in June.
Our Costco had some decent faux terracotta pots for 18.00 and they are 30 inches high by 24 accros.
All in all I love the look these plants give me and the pots mean I can move(with some help) them around to change the look of my yard. People are always asking what they are and how did I get them to grow!. They are very easy plants to be successfull with.
I would caution you about choosing a partner plant as these guys can get very big and I have had them split a pot and they do rob all the goodnes from some smaller plants.
What zone are you? Maybe someone close can give you a good companion plant to use.
Here are a couple of mine.
Ann
Oh my, oh my, aren't those gorgeous pots? Ann, you are inspirational. And also, I listen to your local news and the best music in the universe on CKUA, in Edmonton, religiously. I was actually thinking of relocating there a couple of years ago and then discovered somewhere closer (hence easier and cheaper) that I also could love. Back to the cannas - I think I'll probably have to divide and transplant mine after this season. I can easily see that it could split the pot. Do you have any particular favorite companion plant? I mean, pretty much everything (but plants that take a deep freeze) thrive here. I see the lobelia, and that's always nice. Anything else you'd recommend?
Ann, I also see in your photo a narrow strip between the fence and the house with trellis and vines growing on them. I have a similar spot I plan on planting climbers in. What side of the house are those on and what's growing, may I ask?
Hi, Ann. Thanks for sharing about your potted cannas. Just gorgeous in the pictures--you've inspired me! Cate
Stellapathic
Thankyou for your kind words.
I found that the best lobelia was the Regatta ones as they could take the wet better that the other vareities. I have not had any good luck with any petunias including the wave but bacopa did well as did mimulas( I just had to pinch back), I also had some black mondo grass which really is a lilly that was super. I don't have any photos of those as I only got my digital camera last summer.
As for the vines they are sweet peas, the blue ones that you can see were from thompson and morgan seeds . I have an elderly neighbor who loves them so I plant them in her yard and they grow up the fence and I get to enjoy too. They face east and nothing blocks them from the south so they get good am sun. I have had great success with cobea against my house to the south but it may be invasive where you are.
ConeflowerCate you will have some super pots too, thanks for liking mine. I will look for the photos you post and don't hesitate to try things these plants are tough.
Ann
Ann, thanks so much for the great detailed descriptions. I've bookmarked this for when I go nursery hopping again. I wonder if it's too late to plant sweet peas here? It's a bit cooler than when I was in Laguna Beach, but still getting warmer day by day. I'll have to ask the locals. I actually don't think I know what cobea is but I'll look it up and see. Thanks again.
Stellapathic
I just looked on my seed packet and it says "Cobea Scandens" or Cathedral Bell climbing vine it is sometimes called Cup and Saucer vine too. They are just regular McKenzie seeds nothing fancy for us but they are an anual here.
Let me know how your plantings go!
Ann
Ann, I looked it up in the plant files and the following is a statement from someone in San Francisco. I think it would do great growing on the fence where there is nothing else. It might threaten to take over the small porch where I wanted a vine though.
"I bought this in a 4" pot about a year ago. It is a tender (alledgedly) short lived perennial in my zone. It is a very rapid grower, and is now enormous, threatening to take over my neighbor's 30' tall incense cedar. It is doing well in sandy clay crowded in with several other plants and vines. I haven't had it set seed. Both hummingbirds and bees like its flowers. A little too enthusiastic a grower for small yards. However, the flowers never fail to provoke comment.
For those you, like myself, for whom this is perennial, unless you want to swing from branch to branch on its dangling ropes, cut it down to about 2 feet in early spring."
If you are interested in Cannas we are trying to get a Canna Forum going, so view this thread it also has some tips for cannas as well.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/580182/
OH by the way........Anna & Stella very lovely photos and cannas. Great work!
I just discovered another variegated canna in the yard. The new yard that is. I brought the other from Laguna Beach where it was being neglected. Apparently this new one isn't enjoying where it is either. I'm gonna lift it while it's still just a few cm above the ground and pot it in a nice big pot with something exciting surrounding it. Exciting.
Stellapathic
If you have a digital camera I'd love to see the outcome of your rescues. I love the muliti color leaves.
As for the Cobea you could grow it in a big pot and then it would be more controled. As for the setting of seeds, my understanding is that they are polinated by bats at night so that may be why humming birds and beees don't work. Yes they can get quite big so if it is a smaller space it could be over bearing. The flowers are outstanding and they smell great. I had it in a pot to keep it warmer and I under planted with calobrachea ( im not sure how to spell that but they are mini petunias.)
Ccino42 Thanks for the link I will give it a read. Its nice to see an Alberta person here!
Ann
Thank you Annabell and Stellapathic,
I just bought some canna bulbs and your photos gave me great ideas.
I was wondering what to use around them in a large barrel pot your pictures helped a lot. I am in San Jose California it gets very hot here in summer so sometrhing heat tolerant would work.I hope I will be able to post my own canna pictures once they are established.
WARNING WARNING!! careful which one you use. the ones in front of my house we measured at exactly 22 feet high in the pots by the end of the season. every time a big wind came down they went!! use the smaller varities. they must have weighed 70 pounds or more! i never remember the names of all the varities but this one that gets so big it has the red leaves with tiny flowers not really grown for their flowers as much as their 3-4 foot leaves.:)
This message was edited Mar 27, 2006 1:31 PM
Wow
Tobee43 That is amazing!
I'm Zone 3 and I have never seen any that big here. I guess you need bigger pots!! LOL
Thanks for the heads up.
Ann
well annabell i'm soooooo jealous of your lobelia!!!! and your pots are absolutely beautiful!! it's one of my favorites and i haven't been quite successful with it. so you tell me what you do and i'll tell you how i get them sooooooooo big. actually i'm trying the regatta this year hopfully with some luck. ....for the canna i use a time release fertilizer bi weekly. then drink so much water in the pots that sometimes i have to water them twice a day on a hot summer day. now...although the time release should and is supposed to last for 3-4 months i still throw some one about every 2 weeks. they seem to eat it up. you know that both of us have very little time to grow the due to our zoning areas... the other thing we do each and every year is change the soil completely in every pot...which is a pain because through out our gardens we use well over 40 pots! in those pics you can't even see the pots anymore since the flowers became so over grown due to all the food they received since they were in the same pot as the canna. but it doens't look like you need much help to me to get them that big...just the right canna!!!
the type of canna used, i think or i believe are called Canna idica 'Red Stripe'...now they are only supposed to get about 8 feet or so...not true is what i found out. it's really their leaves that are so cool...and so large! not their flower which is small and nothing to speak of. in the fall i cut them down and used them instead of corn stalks around my door. they are really great and keep flowering even though they are cut!! so in nov i have these stalks flowing around my door!
by the way we do the exact same thing other than the "washing" off. i also empty the pots pull them apart and store them in peat! GMTA!! hehehe....
Tobee43
I have tried the time release and I'll have to try it in bulk, do you buy it in a 40 lb bag? LOL
I too change the soil and the one thing I do is plug the hole in the bottom of the pot to keep the water in. I don't have time to water twice a day that is why I switiched to bigger pots.
Have you started your canna's inside?
Ann
Tobee43
Your cannas are gorgeous! As well as the EE's I take it they are in pots as well.
How big are you pots??
I am new to cannas and so far I have 3 varieties - Robert Kemp, Apricot Frost and red striped. The Robert Kemp is already 6 inches high! They had sprouted on March 10, so I am guessing Robert will be huge! LOL
posted pic on wrong thread..............I NEED COFFEE~
This message was edited Mar 30, 2006 8:28 AM
Lovely window boxes in any case tobee43!
Now a question. I have one of those butter crocks (its a large 6 gallon one). It doesn't have a hole in the bottom. Would it be possible to use this as a planter for a dwarf canna? I have read here that some people plant cannas in containers without holes since they love the water so much.
Anyone know?
BTW The crock has minimal value as an antique ($10-15 range) since it has some chips and is considered one of the common ones.
Cc and sedum....well this is just my opinion...and you know there are so many.......however......cannas can also rot. it's different when they are in a bog than a container. i always have holes in my containers since i usually have other plants with them. now i try and pick other plants that was similar in habit however most companion plants cannot take standing water. so i have really had no problems other than having to water them really well........and where i live sometimes it does get very dry during the summer months so i'm just careful to water them day and evening on those really hot days.
but it doesn't hurt to give it a try, personally i have never done it. maybe someone that has will respond.
annabella...yes.......i buy it in 100 pound bulk bags from a friend of mine. we go through 4 100 bags a year.
and no......i haven't started them inside as yet. i will be next week!
ahhhhhhhh .......cc and sedum.......annabella has pluged the holes and it worked!! cc those pot s are 22" i am using. they do get out grown!
tobee43 thanks for your opinion. I re-read Annabell's response where she said she plugged the holes. May be they still drain a little so they aren't totally plugged but more slowly? I think I saw in another post someone also used a holeless container. In any case I read somewhere else that sometimes glass companies can cut holes using special core drills or drill bits for glass. I am going to call one tomorrow and see. I feel funny planting in a container without holes - goes against everything I've read...
Sue
Seedum and tobee
I do plug the holes but I don't start baby's in the holeless ones. I think that they need to be a bit dryer when you start stuff. I transplant into the hole plugged ones. I actually had a canna that I didn't have a pot for so I used a 5 gallon bucket and I found that when it got hot it did so much better than my other pots so I have plugged my pots. Just remember too that I am Zone 3 and I have verrrrryyy long days into the summer with am starting around 4 ish and ending around 11 pm plus we are in a very low humidity area.
That maybe why mine have'nt rotted yet.
As for gettin holes in the ceramic pots all you need is a cement bit on your husbands drill and have some water dribbling onto it as you drill through. My husband is very supportive and lets me use his tools. I had a friend hold the hose and I didn't let the power cord go in the water, it was hung over the fence and the water drained away from me. I turned mine upside down and did them that way. Give it gentle pressure and it slowly goes alll the way through. I got some ceramic pots last year and had no problem doing the holes.
My 3 types of cannas are started inside as the snow is still outside and the big ones are about 24 inches at the moment. I will try to post a photo. The only named one is Wyoming (burgandy leaf-orange flower)
Ann
wow ann...you start so early and for a zone 3!!! when do you put them outside. here i can't start them for another 2 weeks or so since i don't put them out until the last week in may . 6 weeks is fine for me to get a head start. additionally the cultivars i use need lots of warmth to grow really well...as i though most canna do. however the ones in my basement in peat moss are sprouting all over the place since the temps are getting warmer. i have atleast 20 different varities and some go directly in pots others go into the gardens. the ones that go into the garden i don't start inside since i don't want them blooming until later in the season.
Tobee43
They will go out the same time , end of may. I have them in a west window and I have a 4 ' flouresent fixture behind them to add some lumins. Mine were begining to sprout and I didn't want to waste the start. Someone once told me that they may try for a bit and give up if not planted, I don't know if that's true. Maybe someone else will know. I had them in my neighbors basement which is about 45 degrees and dark but they sprouted so I planted.
I have the bigger chunks in larger plastic pots and I won't transplant till I put them into the outside big pots. The smaller ones may need to be repotted before they go out to the big pots.
My friend Lynn has a sun room and If I run out of room she has offered to babysit them for a bit so I am very lucky!
I have found that once mine start blooming they keep blooming and don't stop, I must have a continous bloomer.
Here is my small group, excuse the yellow stickies, they are for the silly fungus gnats.
Ann
annabell.....firstly they are lovely!!! so.....i'm talking to the horticultorist i work with.......and i'm asking please.......can i start my cannas yet.....NO NO NO NO...he said NOT yet!! hehehehe....(i just can't wait). now.......we said to me that they will get leggy????? and not perform as well.....i'm not knowing the answer so i'm going to be watching yours carefully to see how you fair. my greenhouse is going up next week we can heat it and he still said no....i don't always listen to him but since he's worked with tropicals for about 20 years sometimes i do. (although, he's not always right)...because remember what works for one may not work for another.
even alice from karchesky canna told me my order was "up" but she's not shipping me until mid april! (what do they know that we don't). she is the canna "god" hehehehe....i would love it if everything goes well with yours because it will tell us a lot!! so keep letting me know:)
This message was edited Apr 1, 2006 7:26 AM
Tobee43 Sometimes it helps to not be so smart! I'm not an expert I'm just a gardner for fun.
I will keep you posted.
Ann
Hi everyone, I ejoy your thread. I hope my questions haven't already been asked before. Has anyone ever planted wave-petunias in a half-barrel with cannas in the center? Also, given my zone can I just leave cannas planted and put it in my unheated shed until next Spring after this growing season?
Bernie