Unearthing Your Green Thumb
Cannas: Florida perennials for the summer garden
While June is not really considered summer by, say, gardeners in the northern regions of the country, it sure is here in North Central Florida.
Actually, has been summer. Remember in April when it got down to 36 degrees on the 17th? Well, by mid-day, it was in the low 80s. You never know how to dress if you’re out and about.
According to records kept by weather.com, it has been as low as 48 in June 1, 1984, and as high as 103 and 104 June 4-5, 1985 (oh, what a difference a year can make).
This month, though, average temperatures are lows in the upper 60s (does that sound like last winter?) and highs in the 90s (does this sound like this month?). However, the plants you grow now can adapt to the vagaries of our climate, and this is a good time to enjoy them.
Tropicals: They don’t need to be heliconias, bird of paradise or any other of those fancy-dancy South Florida floozies. We have some here that do just fine, thank you, and you can still plant them and grow them.
One of the most stalwart of summer tropicals is the canna. While called a lily, it is not. It grows from a rhizomatous rootstock — this means it has a sturdy, underground stem from which roots and shoots grow. Similar plants are gingers and bananas.
Cannas are not only for summer borders, but are perfect subjects for deck plants, grown in large pots. As long as they get 6 hours of direct light, and you keep them watered so the soil doesn’t get so hot in the blistering summer sun, they last for years and years. Replenish the containerized soil every year or so. These are hard-working plants.
Cannas are native to the Americas; Canna flaccida is a Florida native variety, also called Indian shot, with its yellow flowers and growing in boggy areas. Other names are Canna x generalis and Canna indica, which are a little more citified.
The foliage of cannas is large, opulent — sometimes described as brash — and often marked with streaks of burgundy and yellow, some of splotches of white. The much-touted Tropicanna has yellow, orange and white stripes along its lush foliage, augmented by vivid blousy orange flowers. Some cannas are 3 feet tall if that; but a King Hubert, rising 8 feet or more in the air with startling red or yellow flowers, is just simply noticeable on your deck or patio.
The loose flowers — described as gladiolus or orchid-formed — last for several days. A trick to keep the plants blooming is, when they begin to fade, bend the fading flowers over and carefully clip them off, avoiding the emerging bud right behind them. After several flushes of bloom in the summer, prune the entire plant to a few inches above the soil level, and with a shot of all-purpose fertilizer, it will grow back and give another satisfying flush of blooms in the early fall. In this area, cannas do not need to be lifted and stored over winter. They do appreciate dividing every several years and a fresh layer of organic mulch will moderate soil temperature and keep moisture levels high.
What many people don’t like about cannas is their attractiveness to the Brazilian skipper, which looks like a moth but is really a butterfly. The larvae cut channels in the leaves and fold them over to create a shelter — this often results in a “shotgun” appearance of the unfurled leaves. Cool thing: the larvae are transparent, so you can see guts and everything. Gardeners should like that sort of thing.
Marina Blomberg is a freelance writer who has lived and gardened in Gainesville since 1972. She may be contacted through the editor: editor@towerpublications.com.
