Topic: Overwintering Cannas

[Garden Manager]

I grew cannas this year for the first time. I grew them in containers rather than planting them out in the ground. They have done really well, but now i need some advice please as to how to keep them over the winter.

Thanks

[undercarriage plan]

I grow mine in pots too, and just stop watering and shove them, pots and all, in the greenhouse, start watering March time the following season. So far, so good. My neighbour just puts hers by the side of the house, but I think that's a bit risky...
Lottie  ;D

[Icyberjunkie]

Mine live outside all year round with general neglect!   Are they supposed to be brought in then?   :-\

[beejay]

In the warmer areas of the country cannas are increasingly being treated like dahlias being left in the ground. If they are planted a little deeper than normal & covered with some thing like straw they will usually be OK. Or those in pots can be kept some where relatively warm outside such as in the shelter of a wall.  It may be that with the possibility of a very cold winter being bandied around you might not want to risk this in which case keep them somewhere frost free but don't let them dry out completely.

[Garden Manager]

3 of mine were in large containers with other summer bedding plants. Obviously i did not want to over winter them in such large containers, so they had to come out. Unfortunately 2 had grown so big in one season that i did not have any pots big enough! (why is it you never have pots of the right size when you want them?) So being  resourcefull chap I got a couple of olsd leaky buckets, made some more holes and used them as pots. They were the perfect size!

My problem with leaving things like cannas and dahlias in the ground is not the cold (i am sure they'd be OK in my garden) but the wet. My garden gets wetter more than it gets cold and i fear that if i left my dahlias in the ground i''d never see them again. :'(  That said i - planted  a couple in a raised bed for flower cutting, which i may try leaving in the ground this year.

[flowerlady]

It certainly is getting colder now down south, so I will take my potted variegated canna into the side passage under cover, but will leave a smaller one in the ground to see what happens.

My garden gets wetter more than it gets cold

 
I know what you mean by that GC.  Soggy to put it mildly!!

[ACE]

I should not worry about your cannas, It is said that the whole country is infected with a virus that affects canna. The disease was spread by aphids during the summer and a few national collections have been wiped out. I will leave mine out to take their chances when the frost comes as it might kill the virus.

[Garden Manager]

I should not worry about your cannas, It is said that the whole country is infected with a virus that affects canna. The disease was spread by aphids during the summer and a few national collections have been wiped out. I will leave mine out to take their chances when the frost comes as it might kill the virus.

Thats a rather generalised statement about our cannas there ACE. How do YOU know we have all been infected ? What are the symptoms of canna virus then, so we can know if we have got it?

[ACE]

Distorted growth and mottled colouring, I have heard that the RHS had to abandon  some of the canna trials this year as the 2 main viruses are getting worse and more widespread.

[Garden Manager]

Distorted growth and mottled colouring, I have heard that the RHS had to abandon  some of the canna trials this year as the 2 main viruses are getting worse and more widespread.

I had a bit of discolouration but no distorted leaves and the plants flowered fine (if a little later than expected). I thought the discolouration was just chlorosis.

If I did get the virus, what will heppen next year? Are they likely to grow and flower again?