How to Grow Canna Lily: Essential Care Tips and Techniques
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Canna Lily is one of the most spectacular bulbs a gardener loves to own in their extinguished garden. We all know that gardening is one of the most aesthetic ways to reduce stress while improving mental health.
So if you have a beautiful garden and want to grow canna lilies in your garden, you are at the right place. In this extensive guide, you will explore how to grow and care for your canna lilies.
What Are Canna Lilies?
Canna lily is a rhizomatous perennial plant similar to the iris, which resembles its tropical-like large flowers and foliage. These plants are often called bulbs. However, they are not correctly a bulb but rhizomes as they multiply beneath the soil from it. Canna lilies are exquisitely low maintenance, and as a beginner gardener, you can grow them effortlessly in your garden. Moreover, these perennials will grow up to 8 feet in a season.
Canna Lilies are flashy and flamboyant, with distinct paddle-like leaves that ruffle around stems. These paddles tappers into polished buds and open up into large beautiful rainbow-hued flowers. Canna Lily continues to bloom even in the heat of late July and August.
Canna Lilies may look like tropical plants, but many of their species are native. However, these perennials are similar to the iris in terms of shape. They come in many colours, such as red, orange, yellow and pink. Canna Lily are a great option to add enchanting beauty to your garden, especially when they are backlit by the sun.
Tips to Plant and Grow Canna Lily
When to Plant Canna?
Cannas are mostly known for the tropical and bold beauty that they add to the garden. Hence, as a gardener, you may add Cannas for its ornamental appeal. In this comprehensive guide, you will be able to know about how to grow Canna Lily.
To grow Canna in your garden, ensure the weather is sunny and the soil moist. Moreover, these bold Cannas are the perfect option to yield as a back of a border. They can add a tropical field to your garden. The soil must be 60° F or warmer before you plant the rhizomes underground.
However, if you belong from a cold region, plant the rhizomes in pots or a greenhouse before it’s ready to plant outside.
How to Plant the Canna Lily?
- You shall plan the rise homes in the garden in late spring after the last frost or early summer.
- Prepare your soil with organic matter and compost to create a rich garden soil, and then plant the Cannas in full sun or partial shade.
- Give your Cannas enough room and space. Hence, you shall plant your rhizomes up to 2 feet apart.
- Before you plant your lilies, loosen the soil and mix organic matter to a depth of one foot.
- After you plant the cannas, water it thoroughly and then withhold the action for up to 3 weeks.
How to Grow Canna Lily?
- Before you want to grow cannas in your garden, choose the right rhizomes or tubers. Choose the rhizomes that are large, plump and firm.
- Before you plant the Cannas, look at the number of eyes or growth points because it is highly correlated to the overall size of the plant and the flowers.
- Cannas tend to grow in wet soil. Hence, if the ground does not remain moist, the lilies will not be able to thrive as much. Provide a good soaking once a week in the hottest week of summer so that the Cannas can grow well.
- Promote the healthy growth of flowers and deadhead the faded ones.
- Although fertiliser is optional if the soil is fertile, cannas would enjoy a slow release of fertiliser at planting. Hence fertilising the plant twice in the growing season is necessary.
- Apply a thin layer of mulch to retain the moisture of the soil.
- Swimming and flooring can prevent the plants from setting seeds. Hence, this will prolong the bloom of the flowers.
How to Care for Your Canna Lilies
Canna lilies are the easiest plants to grow and can deliver a classic show for your garden. With this comprehensive guide, you can explore fundamental tips for caring for your plant.
1. Temperature and dampness
Canna prefers to grow in humid regions and can be evergreen in the warmest area. However, they are weak against frost and won’t survive. Canvas is comfortable with temperatures as warm as 32° Celsius or higher.
2. Light
Although Cannas tolerate varieties of sun conditions, the sun brings out the best leaves of the species. If you want to add the beauty of these perennials to your garden, keep them in the sun. However, at noon, remember to keep them in the shade to prevent the foliage from bleaching.
3. Fertiliser
Cannas are heavy eaters. Therefore, apply a slow-release fertiliser to the soil to keep your perennials happy. Mood off vocational doses of fertiliser can keep them beautiful in the season.
4. Soil and Water
Cannas are often seen to grow in moist habitats or even near the water. However, these plants can do fine with regular damp garden soil. Before planting the cannas underground, prepare the soil with organic matter.
5. Pruning
Deadheading and pruning your cannas is a necessary step. After deadheading your plants several times, if there is no flower, cut the stem back to foliage. Then, trim the damaged or sunburnt leaves to promote healthy growth.
7 Common Types of Canna (Canna Lily)
Canna lilies possess such classic beauty that it gets hard to settle down with a single kind of Canna to grow in your garden. Instead, there are various kinds of Canna lilies to grow that bloom in different shapes and colours in season. These perennials bring a fresh glow and colourful splash into your garden. Here are 7 common types of canna you can grow in your garden
1. Black Knight
Unlike all other types, this Canna received its name from its dark purple or almost black foliage paired with deep red blooms. These cannas can accelerate the beauty of your garden by standing out as the most elegant perennials. Same as firebirds, these plants bloom in the mid-summer to frost. Plant the cannas in the spring season to avoid damage to the rhizomes.
2. Cleopatra
The name Cleopatra was given to this Canna because of its unique beauty. The Canna Lily UK is an unstable hybrid providing unusual patterns over the petals, making it stand out. They possess an unpredictable variety, and you won’t be able to know the combination of the plants you grow.
Moreover, you may plant a combination of both colours, which stands out against green and purple foliage. Hence, you can plant them in your garden to make it look elegant.
3. Eureka
As a gardener, you might like these perennials because of their radiant light glow. They are one of the lightest cannas you can find on the list. Eureka blooms as pale yellow flowers with specks of red dots faintly accumulating on the petals. However, when the flower ages, they become ivory in colour. The foliage consists of light green-blue that goes well with the colour of the petals.
4. Los Angeles
Los Angeles may give you the illusion that this flower must be vast. However, it is the opposite, as the Canna is small in stature, and the flowers are petite. They are pink and bloom from the middle of the summer to frost, similar to Black Knight and Firebird.
5. Firebird
These types of Canna Lily UK are effortlessly fast-growing and compact. The term Firebird is given to the type because of its fire-red bloom clusters that rise above big green leaves. You can see these plants bloom in the middle of the summer to the first frost. These plants thrive under the sun, and you shall water them once a week.
6. Crimson Beauty
Similarly, as the name states, it’s a beautiful canna that is crimson red and sits exquisitely above the green foliage. This is one of the varieties that will sit well with the other Canna. You can combine them with Carol’s yellow, Musifolia and Richard Wallace.
While planting them in your garden, ensure they receive direct sunlight and moist soil. The variety usually thrives well under sunlight and boggy areas.
7. Lucifer
Lucifer is undoubtedly one of the most popular varieties of canna lily UK you can plant in your garden. The perennial possesses striking features with the combination of red petals with yellow edges.
The type of flower can bloom under shade but prefers to bloom properly under full sun. Hence, if you are looking for a plant with bold colour, then this is the perfect plant for your garden.
Conclusion
Whether you are a new gardener or an expert doing Canna Lily UK can be easy.
However, there are many factors that you need to take care of before you plant these perennials in your garden. For example, Cannas prefer to thrive well in warm and sunny regions.
In this comprehensive guide, you explore the necessities before you grow these plants.
Moreover, in this article, an extensive guide about the types of Canna was added for your convenience. You can choose which variety to plant in your garden or combine some varieties to create scenic beauty.
