About
This upright perennial reaches heights of up to 1 meter, developing dense clumps of large leaves that exhibit a bronze hue mixed with green. From summer through early autumn, it produces vibrant orange-red flowers accented by yellow-tinged throats, all supported by robust stems.
About the genus
Canna are herbaceous perennials characterized by their rhizomatous growth and upright stems. They feature broad, oval leaves and prominent flowers that include petal-like staminodes along with smaller, colored petals and sepals. These blooms appear in clusters, such as racemes or panicles, during the summer and autumn months.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H3
Plant details
- Plant type
- Herbaceous Perennial, Conservatory Greenhouse
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.5-1 metres
- Spread
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Time to full height
- 2-5 years
- Suggested uses
- City and courtyard gardens, Coastal, Cottage and informal garden, Patio and container plants, Architectural, Sub-tropical
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Outdoors grow in a sheltered site in fertile soil in full sun, planting in early summer once frosts have passed. Water freely in dry weather and apply a high potassium fertiliser monthly. Lift the rhizomes in autumn when frost blackens the foliage. Store over winter in barely moist peat-free potting mix or leaf mould in frost-free conditions. In mild areas leave in the ground but cover with a dry mulch. Further canna cultivation advice
- Pruning
- Deadhead to promote continued flowering. Leave to dieback in autumn
- Propagation
- Propagate by division of rhizomes in early spring
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to glasshouse red spider mite, slugs and caterpillars
- Disease resistance
- Canna can be susceptible to canna viruses