Cannas: Be careful what you wish for, 1 by nymegen

nymegen wrote:
This is a story about Cannas and their roots;about 3 years ago I fell in love with these beauties and collected about 15 different varieties.Most of them were potted up in early April, (last year)good potting soil,slow release fertilizer and some gel crystals were added. And they grew wonderfully.Fall came,time to bring them into my winterstorage and watered minimally during that winter. Spring came and outside they went.Some more fertilzer and it was a wonderful hot summer.Since I wanted to divided them, I decided this was the time to do it. Some came out of their pots easily but then there were some that had grown so much,that I was afraid they were going to break the pots they were growing in.Of course these were the nicest and most expensive pots I had bought.I finally had to get a serated knife and after some major hacking into the roots systems,on the sides of the pots,was able to get them out and then divide.I don't consider myself at all as a lazy gardener but figured I had such good soil in these containers that they could stay as is for another year without repotting.Lesson learned .Do not do it without risking your pots being absolutely rootbound and your good kitchen knife being unusable