Stupid canna questions

[marlasmom]

Just discovered I have a beautiful small canna with red and green striped leaves and an orangey flower blooming on top of some calla lillies that I planted not knowing it was there. A caladium is also coming up right on top of it - I did not plant that one.

NOW STUPID QUESTION. Cannas are about $2.50 at Walmart or Lowes for a package of two or three bulbs and $1.00 per bulb on the net site for really good cannas. However every nursey down here has cannas in a pot and blooming for $10.00 each. They are not anything special - just regular old cannas. Why would anyone go for that when you can so easily grow your own?

BTW the little magnolia tree is blooming - white flowers instead of the pink I had hoped for - everyone I have seen down here is white - but it's blooming. Whoo hoo.

 

[December99]

I also would like to know if there are cannas that can stay in the ground in the winter time in the northern areas of the US. I had some at one time but I had to dig them every fall and replant them every spring. I would love to have some but don't want to have to do that because they would go in the back of my landscaping and be hard to do that to.

 

[marlasmom]

I'm pretty sure cannas won't overwinter in the cold but consider planting them in pots.

 

[amid chaos]

I've never grown cannas....is it worth having to dig them up every fall?

 

[marlasmom]

I love cannas and they were beautiful when we lived in California. I do not like them as you often see them in public places, planted in stiff rows. I like the lush tropical look and I plant them loosely in mixed beds. I think they are well worth it and the bulbs are cheap enough you really could just replace them every year.