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canna lily

I recently dug up my Canna lillies from their pots with a view to overwintering. As a novice I am slightly confused with what I saw. The bulbs? seemed to have the roots and the stems coming out of the same side leaving the opposite side looking smooth like a potato. Is this normal and is their a way to know top from bottom when replanting next yearimage

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  • VishuVishu Posts: 191

    Yes, it's normal with canna........

    Don't worry much about how to place them..... Just place them horizontally..... The long side should be parallel to the ground.

    Btw, how do you store them?? I have always wondered since in my area, they are perennials.☺

  • I was given them last year as established plants in pots so This is my first winter. I just assumed they should be lifted and overwintered indoors so I have dried them out and wrapped them individually in newspaper and put them in a shoe box in the garage until next spring. I was hoping to split the large clumps to gain more bulbs but the first one I tried seemed to snap off so I have left them as I dug them. Maybe all you out there may tell me that it is not necessary to lift but where I live in West Yorkshire the temperatures can get a bit Arctic.

  • VishuVishu Posts: 191
    willinglearner says:

    I was given them last year as established plants in pots so This is my first winter. I just assumed they should be lifted and overwintered indoors so I have dried them out and wrapped them individually in newspaper and put them in a shoe box in the garage until next spring. I was hoping to split the large clumps to gain more bulbs but the first one I tried seemed to snap off so I have left them as I dug them. Maybe all you out there may tell me that it is not necessary to lift but where I live in West Yorkshire the temperatures can get a bit Arctic.

    See original post

     No, understand the lifting.......... I don't need to cuz I live near tropic of cancer..........but I think it would have been better if (if possible) you had just moved the pot indoors, like shed or someplace........

    Dividing canna is very easy, where do you experience problem?

  • PerkiPerki Posts: 2,527

    They dont look very health to me, have you got any more pictures?

    I live in east Lancashire ( todmorden only 10-15mins away ) and canna do need lifting. I lift mine, cut the stems down to 15cm and pot them up in old compost and leave them in the cold greenhouse, I repot them in spring when growth starts, I treat them the same as my dahlias.  your's will probably be ok in the garage.

    You may lose or have already lost the canna which you didn't dig out, I got below -6 C a week or 2 ago which could kill your canna outside, if they are ok still pile some mulch on top of them and hope for the best. 

  • image

    The main thing messing with my head is the apparent stem and roots both coming out of the same side of the bulb. That can't be right ?      Can it?

  • VishuVishu Posts: 191

    image they don't have a bulb. They have a rhizome. Just like ginger or tumeric.

  • Thanks Vishu but with roots and stems seemingly coming out of the same side I am confused as to how to plant them. Surely nature can give us novices a hand and stick to; one end roots, other end flower, not much to ask?

  • May seem like a daft question but could they be Calla lilies? They're more like you describe, flattened, roundish, with shoots and roots coming from the top, and the bottom a bit like a knobbly potato. Canna rhizomes are a bit more chunky and have definite pointy ends for shoots and roots coming from the bottom.

  • Believe me it is not a daft question, in fact I think you have hit on something.

    I was told when I got them that they were Canna Lily. Of course Old cloth ears may well have been told Calla but heard Canna? A bit late I know but I have just looked at photos and the do look more Calla than Canna. So if Calla is it then quite common to have roots/flowers from one side with the other looking like an unpeeled new potato. THANK YOU Bob

  • Good luck with overwintering them. When spring comes around you'll probably see the roots/shoots beginning to appear, or you could put them in seed trays in compost, protected from frost, and not too damp ( they can rot if cold & wet), until signs of life appear. It is counter-intuitive to plant with the roots at the top!

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