lat. Canna indica, also known as Saka siri, Indian shot, Kana

Canna lily is one of my favorite plants. It’s the native Caribbean and tropical American plant, but with proper care can grow everywhere.
This perennial is very frost tender, so if you live in hardiness zone 7 like I do, the best way is to get bulbs out of the pots in the fall and plant them back in spring or collect seeds and sow them after the last frost.

It can grow from 90cm(36in) to 2.5m (8ft) with flowers that can bloom from late spring till mid-fall(first frost) in many colors. I have canna that blooms in orange-red, but it can also come as red(the most common), gold, yellow, or magenta.

As it is a tropical plant it needs a lot of water. The soil must be consistently moist, and it enjoys a lot of sun. Mine are always in front of the house where the temperature in summer is around 40-50°C (104-122F) and by watering them every morning and evening they grow like mad.

Like I said before they can be grown from seeds. Seeds are placed in green balls that are on the flower. You can’t miss them they look a lot like green chestnut cupules. All you have to do is let those cupules dry(they should be dark brown) and remove the seeds.

Seeds are small, heavy, and black. They can also be used as jewelry beads or in rattles, people even used them in old guns as ammunition.

I divide my Canna lilies from bulbs. In the fall I get them out of the pot and just tear bulbs apart. As long as there is a bulb or part of it next year you will have new Canna.You can see that we have now a full box of Canna bulbs. We got just one bulb a few years ago and now we have no idea where to plant them all.

So this year we will plant 4 pots with them. I love them cause they grow very big and by the middle of the summer, they cover the whole window. They are perfect for making shade in the room.

I have read in many places that each bulb needs around 60cm (23in) to grow, but I don’t follow that. I place them as tight as I can. Over the years I’ve noticed that the less room they have the bigger they get. And I need them tall. If you want them to look like a bush with giant leaves then plant them with many rooms between them. This way they will stay shorter but have many big leaves.

 Cannas will start growing leaves as soon as the daily temperatures reach 20°C and in just a month reach their full size and start making flowers.

 But be careful when you plant your cannas. Use a strong pot and don’t plant them with other plants. Their bulbs are aggressive, they will kill all the other plants in the pot and eventually if not transplanted will destroy the pot.