Cannas

Some of your cannas may be getting more sun than others. Give them a little time and they should all come back.

If you didn't mulch them well they may not come back. They are cold hardy in Zones 7-11.

I am planting my cannas this coming week in Northeastern Wisconsin. Mine have done very well for the last two years that I had them. Hummingbirds and bees like them

You can wear ugly clothes and not get made fun of.

Cannas are hearty, but a frost will kill the stalks. Remove the dead stalks to the compost pile, but you can leave the rhizomes in the ground and they will shoot up again in the spring. Add a good layer of mulch to keep the roots from freezing.

Hi, I live in Coastal SC, zones 8 & 9(I'm right on the border :) I would think your cannas are hardy there where you live, but I'm wondering if they are getting plenty of sun and water. I have planted cannas in many different places in my yard and also where I used to live, and most of them thrive the best if they are in a sunny location. This year I had one placed where it got sun from dawn till dusk and it bloomed on December 15 even! :) Also maybe consider a little fertilizer, the liquid type. Maybe also have your soil tested. I don't know how old this post is, but just offering some ideas :)

Cannas may be stunted or bloom poorly if they receive less than 6 hours of sunlight per day. Make sure that the soil is fertile and consistently moist. Remove spent flowers to encourage more blooms. High temperatures can also stress to the plant, often resulting in shorter growth that year; be sure to keep up with the watering at these times.

Check for signs of pests/diseases, which can affect growth and flowering. For example, canna mosaic virus (also called bean yellow mosaic virus) can cause stunted growth, late flowering, and yellow streaks on leaves.

Your county's cooperative extension can give you guidelines as to proper canna care for your area, and may be able to test for viruses (for a fee) or refer you to a lab that can. For contact information, see: http://www.almanac.com/content/cooperative-extension-services and select your state.

Hope this helps!

Those are canna seeds. They have a very hard coat and need to be soaked and nicked before sowing. You can plant the seeds in small pots indoors and then transplant outdoors when the weather warms up.

The USDA Hardiness Zones for northwest Arkansas are 6 and 7. Most cannas are hardy to Zone 8, although a few can survive in Zone 7. It would probably be best to dig up your cannas in fall and store them over winter, especially if you are in Zone 6. (A local nursery might know what Zone you are in.) See above for more details about how to overwinter cannas.

Living outside of KC, zone 5b, where the woman across the street planted maybe a dozen bulbs in the spring and then dug them up each fall. She moved 5 years ago, leaving the bulbs behind and in the ground.
They were not removed from the ground for 5 winters now and they have multiplied and continued to spread out across the south facing brick wall against which they were originally planted.
The new tenant did not want them and offered the bulbs to me. I now have 3 grocery sacks of bulbs to store this winter.
But, given what I observed, I plan to treat them as a perennial and leave them in the ground. Perhaps thinning them periodically in the fall.

After the first frosts which kill the foliage, carefully cut off the tops and dig up the roots with a spade or fork. Brush off the soil. Let them dry in a warm place for 7 to 14 days--about 45 to 50 degrees F. Make sure it's not too cold! The corner of a basement is often good. Then, store in an open container or cardboard box amidst shredded newspaper. Or, hang in a mesh bag. The key is to allow circulating air; do not put in a closed container. You can replant each clump in the spring.

Lucky you in a frost-free zone! You can prune the old or spent foliage from your cannas any time. That allows new growth to come in. Some advise cutting the old growth (flowering stalks) when the new ones come in. While you do not have to "lift" and overwinter your bulbs, you should be prepared to lift and then them once a year or every two to three years; it depends on their vigor and the degree to which they are crowded. (You would thin them to eliminate the crowding.) Even if you thin them occasionally, you cannot hurt them. We hope this helps!

You can plant the seeds. Save the seeds and plant them indoors 10-12 weeks before your last frost in the spring. The seeds have a hard covering that you need break before planting. Use sandpaper to sand one end of the seed until you see the white inside. Soak the seeds overnight and plant in flats or small pots. Keep in a warm spot. Transplant the seedlings to bigger pots before planting them outside when the weather has warmed up. Cannas do not come true from seed. You will have flowers but they will not look like the ones on the parent plant.