I looked up City of Portland which states "Very high moisture needs; suitable for bogs and water gardens".
I was under the impression that cannas were drought tolerant.
Are some cannas drought tolerant while others like the moist conditions? If so, how do I know which cannas are which?
Thanks for any answers. ~~~ Carol
Question about water requirements.
Hi Carol, I don't know of any that are drought tolerant, never heard such a thing actually, canna like their water.
I purchased an Ulrich building back in the summer and across the street from where it was located were cannas growing and blooming at the house where no one lived (or turned on any water).
I thought if they get too much moisture they'd rot.
This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 11:29 PM
If you take a dormant canna and throw it in a pond, it's gonna rot. If you take a canna that has foliage, you can generally wash off all the soil (every last bit) and put it in water. Some canna are better suited to pond planting than others and more are being developed every day. Can't comment on what you saw at the house except to say that if they were lush, they were not dry. Dry canna will eventually peter out and die.
What's an Ulrich building?
Drought tolerant in Ft Worth? You guys average 34" of rain/year, plus maintain a high humidity. And the wettest time of year is when the cannas are emerging for the season. Here in Colorado, in the high desert plains, we get abt 14" average(a lot less the last many years). They are supplemented, of course, during the growing season, but what would amount to not much more than what you guys get naturally. All in all, the growing conditions of nature are different, but our man made efforts make them equal to your area, and they grow every year. I wouldn't call rain in excess of 30" a "drought tolerant" area. That would be a flood around here. I'm no expert by any imagination, just my thoughts.
That's a lot of rain! Would be a flood here as well LOL You defintiely have to consider how much water nature provides when you see plants growing on their own. Here in AZ a plant not getting supplemental water is called a tumbleweed :o)
Problem is that it comes in floods and still doesn't saturate MY ground well. We have drought times for months and 100+degrees then suddenly a flood comes long enough to wash away any topsoil or compost that may be on my plants. It takes a super slow rain over a number of days to saturate and help my plants and that may happen 1 or 2 times each year if I'm lucky.
Oh, a Ulrich building is a brand of wooden buildings that can be relocated.
This message was edited Feb 15, 2007 4:33 PM
Oh, Never heard of one before :)
Yeah, floods not good. I've worked at putting retention around my beds that are out front by the street because watering can be difficult, so I'm right there with ya! Don't know hwy that canna across the street is doing well......it must be getting water from somewhere.
Hmmm interesting. In fact the lady where I got the building also had cannas (they may have been from across the street) and her ground had huge open cracks from no rain. She seemed to think that they were drought resistant also.
Weird. Another lady I met during freecycling had a few iris at her rent house and they were still alive and no one had taken care of anything (inside or out) and definitely never watered. Odd.
I thought that they needed ample water, but was surprised when City of Portland (http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/37248/index.html) actually stated bogs and water gardens.
Huh, that is interesting. Yeah, I know you guys do tend to run to drought, but usually in summer. I grew up north of Houston (Klein/Spring), where we got significantly more rainfall, and the cannas rarely got supplemental water (a little overspray from sprinklers). One of the pros need to solve this mystery. How deep do the roots grow on cannas? Mine only get to grow for 9 mos before getting dug up. LOL Are they still flowering in that "cracked" ground?
The one's across the street were blooming. I wasn't there when her's were flowering but she told me they did.
Stuttgart is one that's good for bogs. It apparently likes lots of water
In the heat of summer, cannas will take all the water you can give them.
They may tolerate drought, but they will do best in tropical situations with good light, heat, and water.
If you don't have that naturally, you will need to create similar for cannas to do their very best.
Alice
Well neighbor, I have several cannas and they all grow and grow and multiply and multiply; its blooming I stuggle with. At the garden show this past weekend I asked the canna vendor how to make them bloom, his reply was water water water. So this summer I'm going to just that.
There is a house on the Cleburne highway, not too far from you and they have cannas lining their long drive way, they bloom all summer, two summers running. I hope to bake some brownies and go knocking on their door to ask what their secret is :). I'll update when I get the answer...
Maybe at the Cleburne Garden Show this weekend the master gardeners will have a suggestion...
Carolyn
I would say that canna in a humid environment could probably turn a lot of that humidity into dew and aim it right down to their root zone. They certainly have enough leaf surface.
I believe all cannas can grow as a aquatic plant. Some can do better than others but all seem to do well in water as long as the water does not go over the pot they are in.
Well, TX, did you trade the secret of the canna lined driveway for brownies? :-)
No, but thanks for the reminder. Haven't been on that side of town in a long time, so it slipped my mind. However, can remember if I shared with you I'm experimenting with Tropical Hybiscus food: feeding a group of cannas with this food to see if they out perform the ones not fed. Cannas seems to be growing at the same rate as the non fed group, no blooms on either group.
Carolyn