Cannas always have a special place in my heart & my gardens. My Grandpa, George Baer was a wonderful gardener. He grew the biggest, "reddest" cannas ever. The red cannas I grow are direct descendants from his.

Grandpa's red cannas are extremely prolific. For every one you plant you dig 10 in the fall. All the gardeners in our neighborhood now grow Grandpa's cannas. I love to share cannas with anyone that will adopt & care for them properly.

Cannas must be dug up each fall so they don't freeze here in zone 5. However, my daughter has one on the south side of her house in a very sheltered spot that has "came back" after being left in the ground the past 2 years. And a garden friend in Minnesota leaves hers in the ground but covers them with black plastic bags full of leaves for winter. They survive for her. In warmer climates cannas can be left in the ground & only need divided due to crowding.

There are many varieties of cannas. I've been experimenting with different ones each year. It is fun! There are short ones & tall ones, green ones, red ones, stripped ones. Each year I discover new ones to try. Reblooming cannas really put on a flamboyant show. The hummingbirds love them. Canna "Aida" has the softest prettiest salmon pink blossoms I ever seen. I grow them for their awesome foliage display & their tropical flare. Plus they make shade for hostas.

Most cannas love hot sun. They will tolerate partial shade but may not reach their full growth potential. Cannas are great focal points in containers. Cannas will also grow in shallow water & rain gardens. There are water canna varieties but I've found most any kind will do well in water. However, the plant must be up & growing before putting it into water or the tuber will rot.

I buy cannas from Horn Canna Farm. Their product & service is great! http://www.cannas.net

Another interesting site http://www.oldhousegardens.com I have not done business with them yet.

And of course, there is good information & publications available through Iowa State University Extension Services. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pubs/ga.htm

Bengal Tiger Canna 2006

Canna 'Tropicana'

I'd been lusting after Canna 'Tropicana' for quite a few years. They were difficult to find & then too expensive for me. (Did I really say that? I, who once paid - $250.00 for a single eye of a totally unknown hosta.) LMBO at myself! (laughing my butt off)

Early summer 2006: I was carousing around incognito, at the little backyard nursery where my youngest daughter works. My heart skipped a beat as I spied a big pot of Tropicana cannas. I circled around them several times, finally picked the pot up, put it down, picked it up, put it down, finally picked it up & told myself, "You deserve it". I just bit the bullet & paid the price. Oh, my goodness, I'm so glad I did. I got so much pleasure watching these marvelous cannas show-off in my garden all season long. To me, it was well worth the money! I'm just hoping the tubers survive winter storage so they can perform their grand summer finale many times over in "Marlys' Gardens".