I know it’s cold outside, but I am already thinking about what I want to plant in my flower garden next year. I love cannas when I see them. Are they hard to grow? LF

Cannas are striking plants with good looking flowers and foliage. Cannas are available in yellow, orange, pink, and red with cultivars that are striped or marbled. Most cannas grow to be between 3 and 5 feet tall. However, dwarf cultivars are available that only reach a height of between 1.5 to 2 feet as well as a few varieties that grow to about 8 to 10 feet in height. They work great as an accent plant or as a tall background for your other flowers. Typically, cannas are planted as rhizomes, but it is possible to grow them from seed.

If you are adventurous and would like to try growing them from seed, here’s what you need to know. The best time to start your canna seeds is in mid-February so you have a month or so to locate your seeds. Just fyi, you will probably have to do some looking to find seeds since most retailers sell the rhizomes. But you can find them with a little bit of persistence.

Assuming you found some seeds, prior to planting, soak them in water for 12 to 24 hours. This will soften their seed coats and increase the chances of germination.

Next, you’ll want to plant them in a seed tray or whatever you use to start your seeds using a seed starting mix. Seed starting mixtures are lighter in consistency which gives young roots a good medium in which to start growing. Once planted, give them a good soaking, cover the container with clear plastic wrap, and move it to a sunny location or place under a grow light. Be sure to maintain the temperature at between 70 to 75 degrees. Seed starting heating mats can be helpful. With any luck, your seeds should start to germinate in about 7 to 14 days. Once they start to germinate, remove the plastic wrap.

As the plants grow and are big enough to handle, transplant them into individual containers filled with a good quality potting mix. Continue to care for your little plants until it’s planting time.

Once the danger of frost has passes, they are ready to begin the process to move outside. By process, I mean these young plants will need to be hardened off. Hardening off means gradually introducing them to the outdoors rather than just planting them outdoors and hoping for the best.

The hardening off process can take 7 to 10 days. You begin by placing them in a shady location. Then each day increase the amount of sunlight they receive until they are ready for their new location.

If this sounds like too much trouble, you can purchase canna rhizomes in the spring. Rhizomes can be planted after the danger of frost has passed. You should plant the individual rhizomes horizontally, about 4 to 6 inches deep. Space them about a foot apart. If you would like to get a jump on the blooming season, you can plant your rhizomes indoors in pots about a month before planting time meaning sometime in March.

Your cannas will do best when planted in well-drained soil in a location that gets full sun. By full sun, I mean at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day. More is better. They need well drained soil because wet or overly moist soil will contribute to rotting of the rhizome. While they like well-drained soil, they still need to be watered at least once a week if Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.

Fertilizing with a balanced garden fertilizer such as 10-10-10 will help to promote growth and flowering. During the season as their blooms whither, you can remove those flowers which will not only help the plant look a little better, but this will also promote additional blooms.

On occasion, cannas can fall victim to viruses such as the canna yellow mottle virus, bean yellow mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus, and tomato asperity virus. You may have noticed, several of these viruses are associated with vegetables, so one way to minimize the chances of your cannas getting infected with one of these diseases is to locate them at a distance from your vegetable garden. However, if you start to see leaves that are discolored with a yellow mosaic patter or appear to be dying along the veins, you will need to remove the plant, hopefully in time to keep the virus from spreading to other plants. You can always send a photo for confirmation to our Diagnostic Center at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

Because cannas are a tropical plant rated for USDA growing zones 9 and 10, they will not overwinter well outdoors. So, after the frost kills off the above ground foliage, dig them up and store them in a cool, dark, moisture free place.

One good thing about cannas is that over the years, their rhizomes tend to get bigger and put off shoots. These shoots can be cut away and planted separately to give you additional beautiful canna plants. See you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Lesley Ingram, Bugwood.org