Canna Tropicanna in bloom

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Cannas are grown mostly for their beautiful tropical foliage, not for their blooms. But seeing a flower blooming on the day after Christmas, especially for a Minnesota kid like me, is still pretty amazing. This is a Canna Tropicanna that I got at Easy to Grow Bulbs a few years ago, but now it's available just about anywhere. I've even seen them at Walmart, although they look a little ratty there. But you are getting it for the bulbs, not the leaves, so if they need to be cut off, don't worry, more leaves will grow back.

The blooms don't last very long, and, as you can see, they open in progression, so if you want it to look its best, just gently tear away the spent blooms as they fade. After a stem has finished blooming, I always cut it all the way down to the ground.

Cannas will suffer a bit with cold. They are fine if it just gets into the upper 30s (like it did last night). At freezing, their leaves will get droopy and mushy. Below freezing will knock them to the ground. After the big frost of 2010, I cut them all down to the ground. By summer they were six feet high.

And they bloom year-round!

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